DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds has signed an executive order granting convicted felons the right to vote, ending Iowa’s place as the only remaining state to broadly deny voting rights to felons.
The Republican governor signed the order Wednesday after promising in June that she would take such action.
Reynolds says she’ll continue to press the Legislature to pass a constitutional amendment restoring felon voting rights, which couldn't be reversed by a future governor.
She proposed that last year but couldn’t get Republican state senators to support it.
The order excludes automatic restoration for more serious crimes, such as murder, requiring those people to seek individual restoration but does not require repayment of victim restitution before they could vote.
