Proposed Iowa amendment is purely political

Article III Section 1 of the Iowa Constitution confers on every citizen of the United States who is an Iowa resident of legal age the right to vote in Iowa elections. Exceptions for felons or folks with severe cognitive disabilities are also carved out, but otherwise the language is clear, unambiguous and mandatory. A proposed amendment to Article III Section 1 will change the language, and perhaps the meaning of Article III Section 1.

The proposed amendment substitutes the words “only citizens” for the words “every citizen.” Politicians supporting the amendment say that it will “modernize” Iowa’s constitution and help ensure that non-citizen immigrants cannot vote. According to NBC News, the proposed language copies amendment initiatives in seven other states controlled by Republican lawmakers. As in those other states, illegal voting by non-citizen immigrants in Iowa is virtually non-existent. Article III Section 1 already restricts the right to vote to citizens and it is a crime under Iowa law for a non-citizen to vote or attempt to vote. Further, Iowa’s voter ID law requires voters to obtain certain forms of identification in order to vote. To obtain these IDs, the person must present documentation proving citizenship.

If the amendment passes, Article III Section 1 will no longer expressly confer the right to vote on any citizen. It might assume or infer that the right to vote exists, but under the proposed amendment, the source of that right will no longer be the express language of the Iowa Constitution.

What could be the consequences of the change? It takes little imagination to envision future legislation that places further burdens on citizens to prove their citizenship. Not long ago in the Jim Crow south, literacy tests were used to prevent black people from voting. If the right to vote is no longer mandated by the Iowa constitution, partisan legislators could be tempted to pass laws that harken back to that dark era, this time targeting people with names, accents or skin colors they find suspicious.

Every citizen must zealously safeguard their right to vote. The change in the language is being proposed for purely political purposes and is not serious legislation directed at solving a problem that actually exists. It is bundled with language that I am sure most people support: granting 17 year olds the right to vote in primaries so long as they will be 18 by the date of the election. Unfortunately, legislators chose not to give the citizens of this state a clean bill. Instead, they chose to play politics with the Iowa Constitution by inserting language that is part of a nationwide agenda and that could have far reaching legal consequences.

Mark Liabo has been practicing law in Cedar Rapids since 1979. He is a graduate of Drake University Law School and a member of the bar in Iowa. He also holds BA and Masters degrees in history from the University of Iowa. He has been an active member of the legislative committee of the Iowa Association for Justice.