A rally will be held Monday to urge the Iowa Senate to move forward with legislation that would restore voting eligibility to tens of thousands of Iowans who cannot vote because of a felony conviction.
The event will be held Monday, February 17, at 2:30 p.m. in the rotunda of the Iowa Capitol. Speakers will include Scott Clyce, a Des Moines man who cannot vote because of a felony conviction; Mark Stringer, ACLU of Iowa executive director; and Betty Andrews, Iowa-Nebraska NAACP president.
HJR14, legislation to amend the Iowa Constitution to make people with felony convictions eligible to vote, is currently in the Senate Judiciary Committee. We urge Senators to pass the legislation now so that it can be voted on by the full Senate.
A key message of the rally will be that voting rights should not be dependent on how much money a person has. Some senators want to restore voting rights only if a person has paid off victim restitution. For many people, that would mean that they would never be eligible to vote because it would take decades, if not the rest of their lives, to pay off all victim restitution.
Other organizations participating in the rally are:
- The Catholic Diocese of Davenport
- Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund
- Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence
- Iowa Conference of The United Methodist Church, Legislative Advocacy Team
- Iowa Harm Reduction Coalition
- Iowa Justice Action Network
- Iowa Poor People’s Campaign
- League of Women Voters of Iowa
- Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement Action
- National Alliance on Mental Illness, Iowa
- Sierra Club, Iowa Chapter
- Quad Cities Interfaith
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