Posted on 07/07/2005 3:48:15 AM PDT by joshhiggins
Governor restores the vote to felons
By CHARLOTTE EBY, Courier Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES --- While Gov. Tom Vilsack has come under fire from Republicans for an executive order restoring voting rights of Iowans with criminal convictions, many are hailing the action as a civil rights victory.
Vilsack's order, which he plans to sign today, will allow those Iowans to register to vote as long as they have completed their terms of prison, parole or probation.
Before, those offenders had to apply to get their voting rights restored by the governor.
Walter Reed of Waterloo, director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, called the new policy a "a bold move forward."
"Iowa has always been a leader as far as dealing with human and civil rights issues. That goes way back to the 1800s, and this particular effort by Gov. Vilsack, I think, puts us back in a pro-active mode, and I think it's positive in the long run for the state of Iowa," said Reed, a Vilsack appointee.
Vilsack's order is expected to have an impact on voting rights for Iowa's African-American community. A 2002 study by University of Minnesota sociologist Christopher Uggen estimated one in four black adults in Iowa was ineligible to vote because of a criminal conviction.
Reed agreed Iowa's previous policy disproportionately affected Iowa's minority population.
"Just looking at the raw numbers and looking at the districts in which these people come from, it has a major impact upon what happens in local governments and the involvement of people," Reed said.
But some Republicans in the state are angry about the decision by Vilsack, a Democrat.
House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, urged Vilsack to reconsider. He said criminals who have not paid their fines or made restitution to victims shouldn't be allowed to vote.
"Serving your time is not the same as paying your debt to society," Rants said at a meeting last week.
Republican Party of Iowa Chairman Ray Hoffmann charges the move was political and made without the input of state lawmakers.
"We have a system in place, what a criminal is supposed to do after he comes out of jail. We have that in place; we need to follow through with that," Hoffmann said.
Muscatine County Attorney Gary Allison, a Republican, has filed a petition asking a judge to block Vilsack's order from going into effect. A hearing on the matter is set for next Monday in Muscatine County District Court.
Looking forward to voting again
The secretary of state's office has a list of more than 58,000 people who have lost their right to vote in Iowa because of criminal convictions. But because the order will also apply to Iowans who lost their voting rights because of out-of-state convictions, it is difficult to peg exactly how many people will be affected, said spokeswoman Phyllis Peters.
And some of those on the list will still have to finish serving prison terms or probation or parole before they will be eligible to vote.
Since 2000, 10 states, including Iowa, have moved to liberalize their laws on felons' right to vote, said Catherine Weiss of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University.
Weiss was one of those who advocated a change in Iowa's policy.
"It strengthens democracy, generally, when more people have the right to participate in the political process, and the right to vote is at the very heart of political participation," Weiss said.
She argues that allowing people convicted of crimes to vote actually helps improve public safety.
"It's because voting is part of a whole array of positive social behaviors that demonstrate ties to and commitment to a community and that whole package acts as a barrier to crime," she said.
State Rep. Deborah Berry, a Democrat from Waterloo, had tried unsuccessfully in the Legislature to change Iowa's law and is pleased Vilsack took action.
"This is a huge victory for voting rights, and as far as I'm concerned, civil rights. And the fact that he's signing it on the Fourth (of July) is symbolic," Berry said.
Berry's Black Hawk County district has a high percentage of minority residents, and the lawmaker has talked to many during her campaigns who were unable to vote because of criminal convictions.
"I think this, again, will give these people an opportunity to get back into society, you know, work toward being law-abiding citizens," Berry said.
She predicts a voter registration boost where she lives.
"We've already had a strong push in voter drives in the past, but now with this executive order, I can guarantee we'll see more people registered," she said.
He now has a lock on Iowa when he runs for president.
Fits. Radical leftists, pro-aborts, homosexual lobby and now criminals are constituents of the Democrat party. Terrorists should be included in this group as the RATS are doing everything they can to help terrorists, too.
Does IA have that many felons wanting to vote? Isn't there no death penalty law there? GWB won IA by the narrowest of margins in 2004: it trends Democrat for President.
He is doing this simply because Iowa went red in 2004.
Here's hoping the state legislature voids his executive order.
This needs to be challenged in court. Outrageous.
This makes about as much sense as London's mayor giving Osama bin Laden a key to the city. The last people who should be voting in elections are those who have committed serious crimes against their fellow citizens. It would make much more sense to allow 12-year-olds to vote than to allow convicted felons to vote.
I'm curious if the bulk of these are drug possessions by end users.
Iowa is about 2% black, and 25%of Black adults in Iowa are felons that now can vote. This may be enough to sway a close election.
Isn't there no death penalty law there?
No there is not, except for small children who are encounter our free range Iowa Pedophiles.
He can do this with just an Executive Order?
When are the Democrats like Vilsack going to grant voting rights to international terrorists?
Maybe Vilsack has found the solution to the declimning population in Iowa.
State Rep. Deborah Berry, a Democrat from Waterloo.
This lady is all giddy about a huge new registration drive, she predicts a big boost where she lives, She gurantees more people will register.
If I were her and knew I had this many felons in my district I would move. She sounds happy as a pig in slop that all her criminal friends can now vote.
One in Four blacks--25% of black Iowans couldnt vote because of convictions. Since more men are convicted than women it probably means every third man is a felon.Thats pretty gruesome.
But what about the other 44 states that allow it?
This is about the primaries, nothing more. Giving felons the vote is a big Hillary position. (You know, there was a time when a political party would be embarassed to be considered the natural home of felons.)
Why would they do that when they can already vote in 45 states?
Now we need to get the vote in the hands of teens and dead liberals.
Hardly.
44 other states already beat Iowa to it.
Instead of just scrolling past them all, please take a moment to click the applicable state on the Topics screen when posting news of local interest.
That's quite a statistic, if it's true.
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