Gov. Kim Reynolds says she's open to automatically restoring felon voting rights in Iowa

Barbara Rodriguez | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Gov. Kim Reynolds considering restoring felon voting rights in Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds floats the possibility of automatically restoring voting rights to felons in Iowa, a move that could affect about 52,000 people in the state.

Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday raised the possibility of automatically restoring voting rights to felons, a move that could affect at least 52,000 disenfranchised Iowans.

Reynolds was asked by reporters about a legislative advisory board's recent recommendations to restore felon voting rights in the state.

“We’re looking at several criminal justice reforms … so we’re going to take a look at several components of that,” she said, noting they could be a part of her Condition of the State address to lawmakers in January.

Reynolds declined to go into specifics on her plans, but when she was asked what she thought about voters in Florida restoring voting rights to an estimated 1.5 million former felons, she replied: “I think that’s why we’re going to take a look at it … we’re going to sit down, and I’m looking forward to making some recommendations next year, so stay tuned.”

The governor said she has not spoken to top Republican lawmakers about the issue amid work such as crafting her next budget recommendations. A spokesman for the GOP Senate leaders declined to comment. A spokesman for House Republicans said the caucus hasn't met yet to discuss the issue, but any criminal justice reform bill would go through the regular legislative process.

Iowa and Kentucky are the only states in the country that ban felons from voting unless the governor individually restores their rights.

Multiple civil rights and voter groups have been critical of Iowa's voting policy, which has had a back-and-forth history in recent years. Iowa generally prohibited convicted felons from voting until 2005, when former Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack issued an executive order that restored voting rights to felons who had completed their sentences.

Reynolds’ predecessor, former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad, reversed that order after he and Reynolds were elected into office as a ticket in 2011. In 2016, Branstad announced he had simplified the application form for felons who requested having their voting rights restored by reducing the number of questions. Voting advocacy groups at the time still called the process burdensome.

The Iowa Supreme Court later upheld the ban on felon voting rights, ruling all felonies in Iowa are "infamous crimes" resulting in permanent disenfranchisement under the state constitution.

Reynolds has restored voting rights to 88 felons since she became governor, according to her office. She said Tuesday that she had ensured there were no pending requests before a midterm election that could have ended her governorship. Reynolds was elected governor Nov. 6.

Reynolds told reporters that the subject came up at a recent outing. According to Reynolds, a man identified himself as a former felon to her and said his voting rights had been restored by her administration.

“And he said: ‘Not only did I get a letter, but your team personally reached out to me with a phone call to make sure that I knew that my rights had been restored.’ And he said: ‘I can’t even begin to tell you the dignity that I felt because I had gotten my life back, to be able to go in and vote.'"

The Sentencing Project, a Washington, D.C.-based group that advocates for criminal justice, released a report last month that showed roughly 2 percent of Iowa's population in 2016 — or 52,012 people — were unable to vote because of the lifetime felon voter ban.