爱荷华州得梅因——爱荷华州州长金·雷诺兹周三签署了一项行政命令，授予被定罪的重罪犯刑满后的投票权，结束了爱荷华州作为唯一一个广泛剥夺重罪犯投票权的州的地位。
共和党人雷诺兹履行了她在6月份做出的发布该命令的承诺，不过她表示，她将继续推动立法机构通过一项宪法修正案，防止未来的州长推翻该修正案。
她的命令不会自动恢复被判犯有某些罪行的重罪犯的投票权，包括一级和二级谋杀、谋杀未遂、胎儿谋杀和一些性犯罪。这些重罪犯仍然需要向州长请愿，要求恢复他们的投票权。该命令将不会要求重罪犯在被允许投票前向受害者支付全部经济赔偿——这一要求遭到了黑人生命物质组织、全国有色人种协进会和爱荷华州美国公民自由联盟的反对，他们呼吁发布无条件命令。
爱荷华-内布拉斯加全国有色人种协进会主席贝蒂·安德鲁斯(Betty Andrews)表示，该法令将恢复约4万名已服满刑期、缓刑期和假释期的人的权利。
她说:“我们绝对鼓励人们利用这一天进行注册。”“现在我们的工作是确保人们得到注册，并了解从今天开始，他们不需要做文书工作，也不需要做类似的事情。从今天起，他们可以投票。”
爱荷华州美国公民自由联盟的执行理事马克·斯特林格称赞雷诺的命令是该州的胜利。
斯金格在新闻发布会上说:“衣阿华州不再是美国唯一一个永久禁止公民投票的州。”“我们感到欣慰的是，州长的命令并没有使投票资格取决于一个人有多少钱，也就是说，它不取决于支付费用和罚款或其他相关债务。”
雷诺兹将这个问题列为优先考虑的问题，此前她曾讨论过自己在20多年前寻求治疗并戒酒之前与酗酒和酒后驾车的斗争。她说重罪犯应该有第二次机会，恢复他们的投票权是赎罪机会的一部分。
雷诺兹在签署订单前表示:“这可以归结为我们对救赎和第二次机会的基本信念。”“对于许多人来说，这是在救赎之路上迈出的一大步，向他们自己，或许也向其他人证明，他们的罪行或信念并不能定义他们。”
雷诺兹的一些共和党同僚反对这一举措，称他们认为一些罪行是不可挽回的，对受害者负有赔偿责任的重罪犯必须在收回权利之前偿还。这种还款计划被一些人视为人头税，会阻止那些付不起还款的人投票。
在肯塔基州、弗吉尼亚州和佛罗里达州最近发生变化后，爱荷华州成为了唯一一个用宽泛的宪法语言取消重罪犯投票权的州。在缅因州和佛蒙特州，重罪犯甚至可以在监狱里投票。16个州在释放后恢复投票权，另外21个州在服刑期满后自动恢复投票权，包括假释和缓刑。其他国家对某些罪行附加条件。
雷诺兹表示，她将继续敦促共和党领导的立法机构通过一项宪法修正案，这是未来的州长无法逆转的。她去年提出了一个建议，但未能得到共和党州参议员的支持。
众议员阿科·阿卜杜勒·萨马德是一名黑人议员，在这个问题上与雷诺兹共事了两年，他说他对这个命令很满意。但他表示，这只是更广泛的反种族不公正斗争的一步。
“我们要求每个人都深入自己的内心，开始解决问题的根源。你需要帮助我们证明黑人的生命是重要的，如果黑人的生命是重要的，这在今天也不会是一个大问题。这本来已经是自然而然的事了。”
Iowa governor signs order restoring felon voting rights
DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signed an executive order Wednesday granting convicted felons the right to vote after they complete their sentences, ending Iowa’s place as the only remaining state to broadly deny voting rights to felons.
Reynolds, a Republican, fulfilled a promise she made in June to issue the order, though she said she'll continue to push the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment that would prevent future governors from overturning it.
Her order will not automatically restore voting rights to felons convicted of certain crimes, including first- and second-degree murder, attempted murder, fetal homicide and some sex offenses. Such felons would still need to petition the governor for the restoration of their voting rights. The order will not require felons to make full financial restitution to their victims before they'll be allowed to vote — a requirement that was opposed by Black Lives Matter, the NAACP and the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which called for a a no-strings-attached order.
The order will restore the rights to an estimated 40,000 people who have completed prison sentences, probation and parole, said Betty Andrews, president of the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP, which has worked for several years for the change.
"We absolutely encourage people to take this day and register," she said. “Now our work is to make sure that people are registered and understand as of today they don't need to do paperwork, they don't need to do anything like that. As of today they are allowed to vote.”
Mark Stringer, the executive director of the ACLU of Iowa, lauded Reynold's order as a victory for the state.
“Iowa no longer is the only state in the country to permanently and for life ban its citizens from voting following any felony conviction,” Stringer said in a news release. “We’re relieved that the Governor’s order does not make eligibility to vote dependent on how much money a person has, that is, it’s not contingent on paying off fees and fines or other associated debts."
Reynolds has made the issue a priority, previously discussing her own struggle with alcoholism and drunken driving arrests before she sought treatment and got sober more than 20 years ago. She said felons deserve a second chance and that restoring their voting rights was part of that opportunity for redemption.
“It boils down to our fundamental belief in redemption and second chances,” Reynolds said before signing the order. “It’s a big step for so many on the road to redemption and proving to themselves and maybe to others that their crimes or convictions do not define them.”
Some of Reynolds' fellow Republicans opposed the move, saying they think some crimes are irredeemable and that felons who owe restitution to victims must pay it before getting their rights back. Such repayment schemes have been viewed by some as a poll tax that would prevent those who cannot afford repayment from ever voting.
After recent changes in Kentucky, Virginia and Florida, Iowa was left as the only state with broad constitutional language that revoked felons' voting rights. In Maine and Vermont, felons can even vote while they’re in prison. Sixteen states restore the vote upon release, and another 21 automatically restore it after the sentence is served, including parole and probation. Other states attach conditions for certain crimes.
Reynolds said she’ll continue to press the Republican-led Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment, which couldn't be reversed by a future governor. She proposed one last year but couldn't get Republican state senators to support it.
Rep. Ako Abdul Samad, a Black lawmaker who worked for two years with Reynolds on the issue, said he was happy about the order. But he said it's just one step in the broader fight against racial injustice.
“Were asking everyone to reach in their own hearts to begin dealing with the root cause. You need to help us show that black lives matter and if black lives did matter this wouldn't have been such a hoorah today. This would have been something that was already automatic,” he said.
