Coalition calls for automatic restoration of ex-felons’ voting rights

DES MOINES - Advocacy groups want the voting rights of ex-felons restored automatically upon completion of their sentences and are proposing changes to Iowa's laws and Constitution to achieve that goal.

A coalition of 17 groups, including state chapters of the League of Women Voters, American Civil Liberties Union and NAACP, made the recommendations Tuesday in a news conference.

Iowa is one of three states, along with Kentucky and Florida, that require ex-felons to apply to the state to have their voting rights restored upon release from prison.

Coalition members said that places an undue burden on an individual's right to vote.

'We're looking for justice here,” said Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska chapter of the NAACP.

'This is a situation where people have already served their time. Justice has been exacted, and what is happening with voter disenfranchisement is people are continuing to suffer the collateral damage. They're wearing the scarlet letters on their backs.”

Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack in 2005 rescinded the state rule that requires ex-felons to apply for restoration of their voting rights. But upon his return to office in 2011, Republican Gov. Terry Branstad restored the requirement.

When applying to have voting rights reinstated, Iowa ex-felons are required to have paid all court fees, fines and restitution.

In June, the Iowa Supreme Court upheld a legal challenge to the requirement.

'All they have to do is fulfill the responsibility of their sentence, and that is serve the time, to pay the fine and pay the court costs, and in the rare case where there is restitution be current on it,” Branstad said Monday during his weekly news conference. 'That is not a big burden.”

Coalition members disagree. They say some ex-felons cannot afford to pay the court costs or to hire a lawyer to submit the application, as some desire, although it is not required. The coalition members say the requirements equate to a poll tax, a financial obligation someone must meet before being allowed to vote.

'(The governor's) interpretation is inconsistent with all sorts of legal precedent,” said Rita Bettis, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa.

'For most people who are coming out (of prison) with criminal convictions looking to rebuild their lives, their struggles are immense already in order to find jobs and housing and be able to participate as citizens in their community. We need to make that process easier, not harder.

'For lots of people, it's just impossible that they're able to even be current on those (court costs), much less pay them off fully.”

The coalition's proposed legislation would change the state's definition of an 'infamous crime,” which is what rescinds a felon's voting rights. The coalition's proposal removes misdemeanors and non-violent felonies from 'infamous crimes” and says voting rights cannot be withheld because of non-payment of fines, fees or restitution.

The proposal would have to pass both chambers of the Iowa Legislature and be approved by the governor.

The coalition also proposes amending the Iowa Constitution to strike the line that says a person convicted of an infamous crime shall not be entitled to the right to vote.

A constitutional amendment requires approval in consecutive sessions of the Iowa Legislature, plus a statewide vote.

Since Branstad reinstated the application requirement in 2011, 172 ex-felons have had their voting rights restored, according to the governor's office.

Since the administration streamlined the application in April, the number of approvals has jumped from an average of just less than two per month to almost 10 per month.

'We tried to simplify (the application), make it as easy as possible,” Branstad said. 'I think it would be wrong to have a constitutional amendment that would just make it so (restoration) becomes automatic.”