Democracy Restoration Act

The Democracy Restoration Act (DRA) is federal legislation that seeks to restore voting rights in federal elections to the millions of disenfranchised Americans who have been released from prison and are living in the community, but are still denied the right to vote.

The House of Representatives passed the DRA twice as part of omnibus democracy reform bills in 2019 (the For the People Act) and 2021 (Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act). Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) re-introduced the DRA as a standalone bill in the 118th Congress on May 18, 2023.

For a list of Senators signed on as co-sponsors of the DRA, click here. For a list of members of Congress who have signed on as co-sponsors of the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, click here.

• DRA Factsheet
• Legal analysis of the constitutionality of the DRA
• Related Press
• Bill Status/History
• Groups and Individuals who support the DRA
• Supplemental Written Testimony

Currently, 28 states* continue to disenfranchise people after release from prison. For a state-by-state guide on felony disenfranchisement laws around the country, view our map here. Restoring the Right to Vote, a comprehensive policy proposal, is here. To read more about voting rights restoration, click here. 

Press

• Read a post at the American Constitution Society Blog by Deborah J. Vagins and Erika Wood on the importance of the DRA.
• Read a press release by Sen. Cardin’s office on the bill’s reintroduction.
• For all press, research, and news on felony disenfranchisement, click here.

Bill History

2023

• 05/18/23 – The DRA was reintroduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate as S.1677.

2021

• 01/04/21 – The DRA was reintroduced by Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD) in the House as part of H.R. 1 and referred to committee.
• 02/11/21 – The DRA received 217 total cosponsors as part of H.R. 1
• 02/25/21 – The DRA was reintroduced as a standalone bill by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD).
• 04/19/21 – Civil rights organizations, election officials, faith groups, and law enforcement and criminal justice leaders across the country submitted letters in support of the DRA to Sen. Ben Cardin.

2019

• 04/09/19 – The DRA was introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate as S.1068.
  • Sen. Cardin and Minnesota Rep. Jerry Hertaus (R-Minn.) gave opening remarks at a briefing on the bill at the Senate Visitor Center. Myrna Pérez, the former director of Voting Rights and Elections Program, moderated a panel that included:
    • Nicole Hanson, Out for Justice
    • Edgardo Cortes, Former Virginia Commissioner of Elections
    • Rev. Jim Liske, Christ Memorial Church
    • Veronica Cunningham, American Probation and Parole Association
• 03/09/19 – The House of Representatives voted 234–193 in favor of H.R. 1, or the For the People Act of 2019.
• 03/05/19 – The Brennan Center submitted Supplemental Written Testimony in support of the DRA.
• 01/03/19 – The DRA was introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House as H.R.196 and included in Subtitle E of H.R.1, the first bill introduced in the 116th Congress.

2018

• 07/26/18 – The DRA was introduced by Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) in the House as H.R.6612.

2017

• 07/19/17 – The DRA was introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate as S.1588.

2015

• 03/18/15 – The DRA was introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate as S.772. The DRA was introduced by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) in the House as H.R.1459 the following day.

2014

• 04/10/14 – The DRA was introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) as S.2235 and H.R.4459. 

2012

• 04/25/12 – Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), the Senate sponsor of the DRA, gave opening remarks at a briefing on the bill at the Capitol Visitor Center. Nicole Austin-Hillery, then-director of the Brennan Center’s Washington, DC office, moderated a panel that included:
  • Desmond Meade, President, Florida Rights Restoration Coalition
  • Deborah J. Vagins, Senior Legislative Counsel, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
  • Dave Louden, Assistant to the President, Justice Fellowship (Prison Fellowship Ministries)
  • Carl Wicklund, Executive Director, American Probation & Parole Association
• Pictures from the event can be found here.

2011

• 12/16/11 – The DRA was introduced by Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD) in the Senate as S.2017.
• 06/16/11 – The DRA was introduced by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) in the House as H.R.2212.

2010

• 03/16/10 – The Judiciary Committee, Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties Subcommittee held a hearing on the Democracy Restoration Act. Among those testifying include:
  • Burt Neuborne, Founding Legal Director of the Brennan Center
  • Carl Wicklund, Executive Director of the American Probation and Parole Association and member of the Brennan Center Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice Advisory Council
  • Hilary O. Shelton, Director of the NAACP Washington Bureau
  • Ion Sancho, Supervisor for Elections in Leon County, Florida
  • Andres Idarraga, a Yale law student who voted for the first time in 2008 after having his voting rights restored by a 2006 change to Rhode Island’s felony disenfranchisement law.

2009

• 12/11/09 – Congressional Briefing held on the DRA.
• 12/10/09 – Civil rights, law enforcement, criminal justice and faith organizations and leaders submitted letters to members of Congress in support of the DRA.
• 07/24/09 – The DRA was introduced by  Sen. Feingold (D-WI) in the Senate as S. 1516 and by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) in the House as H.R 3335.  
• 07/03/09 – Reps. John Conyers, Jr. and Jerrold Nadler wrote a letter to colleagues to garner support for the DRA.

2008

• 09/26/08 – The DRA was first introduced in the 110th Congress as S.3640 and H.R.7136.
  • Sen. Feingold’s statements can be found here.  

Support for the DRA

A growing and diverse coalition of organizations supports the DRA. The following groups have submitted letters in support of the bill:

• Civil rights organizations
• Election officials
• Faith groups
• Law enforcement and criminal justice leaders