A bill that recently moved forward in the Iowa Senate addresses the issue of restoring convicted felons’ right to vote.

District 24 Senator Jerry Behn of Boone says Senate File 2129 clarifies that felons can have their right to vote automatically restored after completing their sentence. The sentence can either be parole, probation, or a special sentence, and have the felon pay all of the victim restitution. Additionally, the bill has exemptions for automatic restoration of voting rights for criminals that commit crimes such as murder and rape. 

When asked if he was supportive of the bill, Behn was hesitant and will look into it further.

“To be perfectly blunt, I’m more concerned about the victim of the crime than the perpetrator of the crime. If the perpetrator of the crime gets in trouble, as they should, that’s fine. The idea that just because you served some prison time somehow you’ve paid your debt to society is not necessarily accurate in my mind. If you stole an amount of money there should be some restitution to the victim.”

Behn adds, there is currently a process that convicted felons can go through to get their voting rights back once they have served their sentence. That process is having it go through the governor’s office. The bill will only be adopted if a similar measure is passed by a constitutional amendment.