Bradley/ (Period) Senator Abranches

S.W._____

A BILL
To amend Johnsons Voting Rights act to disallow mandatory government identification while voting, ensure the right of early
voting, and allow convicted felons to vote.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Voter Rights Assurance Act of 2016.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Voter ID laws have a disproportionate and unfair impact on low-income individuals, racial and ethnic minority voters, students,
senior citizens, voters with disabilities and others who do not have a government-issued ID or the money to acquire one.

2) Research shows that 11% of US citizens or more than 21 million Americans -- do not have government-issued
photo identification.
3) As many as 25% of African American citizens of voting age do not have a government-issued photo ID, compared to only
8% of their white counterparts.
4) African-Americans in Florida were much more likely to vote early than whites in four of the five most recent
federal elections.
5) African Americans in Ohio are more likely than other groups to utilize [early] voting in general and to rely on evening
and Sunday voting hours.
6) State cut early voting from 14 to eight days and there were seven-hour lines in cities like Miami, deterring 201,000
people from voting.
7) An estimated 3.9 million Americans, or one in fifty adults, have currently or permanently lost the ability to vote because of
a felony convictions.
8)1.4 millions persons disenfranchised for a felony conviction are ex-offenders who have completed their criminal sentence.
Another 1.4 million of the disenfranchised are on probation or parole.
9) 1.4 million African American men, or 13 percent of the black adult male population, are disenfranchised, reflecting a rate of
disenfranchisement that is seven times the national average. More than one-third (36 percent) of the total disenfranchised
population are black men.
10) Today, 30 states have enacted discriminatory voter ID laws that prevent citizens from voting, and more states are considering
such restrictive and discriminatory laws.
11) Blacks represented 47% of a total 829,344 convicted felons and 48% of felons convicted of violent crimes in 1990,
although they made up only 12.1% of the U.S. adult population in that year.
12) Approximately 90% of all convicted felons in 1990 were of voting age
13) Maine and Vermont are the only 2 states where prisoners, probationers, and parolees can vote
14) Of the 5.3 million Americans barred from voting due to a criminal conviction, most of which are non-violent in nature, 39% have
fully completed their sentences, including probation and parole, yet such individuals are still deprived of their right to vote.
15) In 2008 US jails and prisons housed 2,322,486 people
16) Per 100,000 male members of each race, 465 Whites, 1,231 Hispanics, and 3,405 Blackshad been sentenced to prison in 2003
17) In Canada convicted felons have no voting restrictionsand can vote while incarcerated.
18) The number of people incarcerated in US jails and prisons grew from 501,866in 1980 (182,288 in jail + 319,598 in prison) to
2,284,913in 2009 (760,400 in jail + 1,524,513 in prison) - a 355.3% increase during a period when the US population increased by
34.5%.
19) US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayorsaid that felon disenfranchisement is a violation of the Voting Rights Act in her May 4, 2006 dissenting
opinion in Hayden v. Pataki.
20) In 2002, the US Senate voted 63-31against legislation that would have restored voting rights to ex-felons voting in federal elections.

SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE

A) The Voter Rights Assurance Act of 2016 will amend the Voting Rights act to allow felons to vote, ensure early voting, and
disallow voter I.D certification. No state will be permitted to preface voting with a voter identification check. Early voting
periods will be federally mandated as three weeks prior to the the second tuesday in September (Election Day). All citizens held
in federal, state, and private penitentiaries will receive the option to vote.
B) The Voter Rights Assurance Act of 2016 will be carried out by the United States Justice department and derive funding from
the same source as the Voting Rights Act. The Voting Section Litigation will enforce this bill, and additional funds (if necessary)
will be gained from an .025% increase of income tax.
C) Penalty for not obeying the Voter Rights Assurance Act of 2016 will result in either a temporary prison service (where

offenders can vote if it is Election day), a fine, or both, depending on the severity of the infraction determined by the court.
This law shall go into effect January 1, 2017.

Press Release: Abranches Introduces Legislation to allow convicted felons to vote

Today, Senator Wyatt Abranches Submitted a bill that would extend the period of early voting, abolish and state voter I.D
laws, and allow convicted felons to vote.