Iowa’s Democratic Governor, Tom Vilsack, announced that he would sign an executive order to restore voting rights to ex-felons who have served their sentence and completed parole.
Under the order, convicted felons who complete their sentence and parole would have voting rights automatically restored.
Vilsack emphasized that the order will not restore the right to carry a gun or ease any financial obligations to victims.
(from the Iowa City Press-Citizen)
Last year, about 600 felons had their rights restored by appealing to the state parole board, but that is a lengthy, time-consuming process. Gov. Vilsack predicted that the new order may effect as many as 500 – 600 people per month.
It’s noteworthy that this order had bi-partisan support, and its only prominent critic was the very conservative Speaker of the House.
Only four other states have lifetime prohibitions of voting for ex-felons: Florida, Alabama, Kentucky and Virginia. This Boston Globe article describes recent efforts to restore voting rights for felons nationwide.
Ex-felons face many other restrictions, in addtion to loss of voting rights. For example, convicted drug users may not receive food stamps or college tuition assistance. A report from Stateline.org has more on the Bush administration’s policies.
