Gov. Reynolds would support Senate plan keeping some felon voting restrictions in place

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    DES MOINES, IA (KPTM) — Gov. Kim Reynolds on Tuesday said she would back a plan by Iowa Senate Republicans requiring ex-felons fully pay victim restitution in order to get their voting rights back, even though she doesn’t require that when approving their voting rights applications right now.

Reynolds is again advocating for a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore felons’ voting rights at the discharge of their sentence, including probation and parole. The Iowa Constitution permanently bans felons from voting unless they successfully petition the governor to get those rights back on an individual basis—the most restrictive law in the country.

For some Republicans in the Iowa Senate, they won’t support the constitutional amendment without some restrictions. Those concerns sank the amendment last year.

A bill they put forward this year, scheduled for a full Senate vote on Tuesday, would require full payment of victim restitution in order for felons to get their rights restored. The bill would only take effect upon the passage of the constitutional amendment, which needs approval from two General Assemblies and voters before it becomes law.

“My main priority is to keep the amendment clean and so far we are able to do that with this statute [proposal],” Reynolds told reporters Tuesday. “Compromise is how we get things done. When you show no willingness to compromise than nothing ever happens.”

Reynolds has said she doesn’t require full payment of court fees, fines and victim restitution when she reviews voting rights applications that come to her office. Instead, she asks for a payment plan. But Reynolds said she would support this bill if it means passing her proposed constitutional amendment, even though it could make it harder for some ex-felons to vote than it is now.

“If that’s what it takes to get things done, we have to be willing to take a look and listen at what both sides are saying,” Reynolds said. “And if this is part of the conversation—yes.”

The proposal would also exclude people with certain felonies, like homicide and sex crimes, from automatic restoration of rights. They could still individually petition the governor, though, under this plan.

Iowa is the only state in the nation that permanently bans all felons from voting unless the governor reinstates those rights.

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