Felons leaving Iowa's prisons or completing their parole will have an invitation from Gov. Kim Reynolds to apply to have their voting rights restored under a simplified process she announced Tuesday.

Reynolds, a Republican, said she is directing the Iowa Department of Corrections and community-based corrections groups to distribute a one-page application form to Iowans finishing their felony sentences so they will have the chance to apply to have their rights restored immediately when they re-enter society.

"Restoring voting rights does more than afford a trip to the ballot box. It really resurrects dignity and it begins re-entry into life as a contributing member of our communities," Reynolds said.

At a news conference, Reynolds unveiled a redesigned application form that she said will eliminate some barriers to felons getting their rights back.

Earlier this year, the governor announced a push to change Iowa's Constitution to allow felons to vote after their sentences have been completed. That measure has received legislative support, but it is a years-long process to change the Constitution.

Iowans are broadly supportive of restoring voting rights to felons after they have completed their sentences, with 64 percent in favor, 29 percent opposed and 7 percent not sure, according to a recent Iowa Poll.

Under Reynolds' plan, applicants still need to state whether they have paid off their court fines and restitution or are on a payment plan to do so, but they no longer need to attach documents detailing their financial history or list their entire criminal history. The governor's office has also eliminated a $15 background check fee.

Reynolds on Tuesday set a goal of granting or denying all applications within a month of their filing.

"With Iowa’s disproportionate incarceration rate, this is hugely important to African-Americans," said Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, who spoke alongside Reynolds at the news conference. "And it’s also important to all Iowans, because no one should have to wear a scarlet letter on their chest after being released from prison."

The constitutional amendment process takes years

Iowa is one of two states, along with Kentucky, in which felons must apply to the governor's office individually to have their rights restored after completing their sentences. The constitutional amendment to change that, if it passes, could not take effect until 2022 at the earliest.

Reynolds said she has restored voting rights for 122 people since being sworn in as governor, with 15 more applications pending.

Democrats have repeatedly urged Reynolds to sign an executive order immediately restoring voting rights for felons who have completed their sentences, as previous Democratic governors have done.

Andrews echoed that call Tuesday.

"We hope to see the constitutional amendment real soon, but we also think that it is important right now in the interim that people have the opportunity to vote if at all possible," she said.

Reynolds has said she doesn't want the process to change with each governor because it would create confusion. She's also said taking executive action would ease pressure on the Iowa Legislature to act on the proposed amendment.

"Then I’m really giving them an easy out," she said.

'I think it was more cumbersome than it needed to be'

Law students at the University of Iowa's legal clinic who have helped several people apply to regain their voting rights said there are a variety of barriers, large and small, that can keep felons from regaining their voting rights.

"It’s not that complicated once you know what’s involved, but for someone who has no experience with the law, I think it was more cumbersome than it needed to be," said Abe Copi, a third-year law student.

Arianna Chronis, a third-year law student who assists with the clinic, said many of the people she speaks with misunderstand the law and think they're not eligible to vote when really they are, often because they have a misdemeanor conviction or they didn't realize their rights were restored by a previous executive order.

Lacey Reimer said removing the background check and simplifying the form will make it less intimidating for felons undertaking the voting rights restoration process without legal assistance.

"I think it will be a lot easier for people to fill out the application on their own — and it just makes it a lot more accessible for people to get their voting rights restored," she said.

Reynolds says restitution payments should be dealt with separately

Some Republican lawmakers have said they want to add conditions, like the payment of victim restitution or a time delay, before felons become eligible to vote again.

A separate bill that would define "completing a sentence" to include full payment of restitution and fines did not advance in the Iowa Senate this year, but some legislators have suggested adding the requirement to the constitutional language. Reynolds said those concerns should be dealt with separately.

"I hope we keep the amendment to the constitution very clean and then, if we want to talk about some of those other areas, then I think that the statute is the place to do that through the legislative process," she said.

Students at the University of Iowa law clinic said payment of restitution is one of the biggest barriers they see to felons applying to get their voting rights back under the current system.

"I think if you include fines, you’ll find that some people are never going to be able to get their rights back," Copi said.

Many people pay what they can toward their restitution, but Copi said it's not always consistent if they're in and out of work.

"I think something we’ve noticed is that a lot of individuals, they pay when they can, so it’s not necessarily consistent every month," Copi said.

The application for voting rights restoration was last simplified in April 2016, while Reynolds was lieutenant governor. The current process is broken, a Des Moines Register investigation found, with people who are not banned from voting sometimes being refused and people who are banned from voting sometimes being able to vote without punishment.