Former governor criticizes Vilsack's voting rights for felons decision

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By Todd Dorman | Tuesday, June 21, 2005 12:06 AM CDT | () comments

DES MOINES � Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack's decision to restore voting rights to thousands of felons was criticized Monday by his Republican predecessor, who argued that the move is politically motivated.

Former Gov. Terry Branstad joined a chorus of GOP leaders who disagree with Vilsack, a Democrat.

"I think it's a mistake,'' Branstad said in an interview. He left office in 1999 after serving 16 years as governor. "To me, this looks like a very political move. All of the sudden, you're just going to make 50,000 people eligible to vote.''

Vilsack announced Friday that he would sign an executive order on Independence Day automatically granting voting rights to felons and other offenders who have completed their time in prison or under state supervision. The order also would set up an automatic process for restoring voting eligibility in future cases.

The order would immediately impact more than 50,000 Iowans now classified as "disqualified electors.'' A group of state lawmakers, including Republicans and Democrats, urged Vilsack to take action.

"What's interesting is that when you do give people the right to reconnect, the right to vote, to become fully engaged citizens, crime rates and recidivism are lower,'' Vilsack said Friday.

Current policy requires offenders to ask the governor to restore their voting rights. That application also is evaluated by corrections and law enforcement officials in a process that can take three to six months.

Branstad favors that approach. He granted requests only for offenders who fully paid fines, court costs, restitution and other obligations, in addition to finishing their prison or parole terms.

There would be no such full-payment requirement for restoration of voting privileges under Vilsack's order.

"I thought the process was very fair, and I thought it was a balanced process,'' Branstad said. "It ensured that with rights also go responsibilities.

"We helped the clerk of court offices collect a lot of money,'' Branstad said.

Branstad also took issue with Vilsack's claim that he inherited a 10-year backlog of cases from the Republican administration. On Monday, aides to Vilsack said the governor was referring to commutation requests from inmates serving life sentences, not voting rights applications.

Republican legislative leaders said they are studying Vilsack's planned order to see if it falls within his executive powers.

"I don't think it's the right thing to do,'' House Speaker Christopher Rants, R-Sioux City, said of Vilsack's order.

"I think society's entitled to say, you know what, we welcome you back, but you don't get to help make laws once you've crossed a certain line,'' Rants said.

Rants' office circulated a 2003 study by sociologists from the University of Minnesota and Northwestern University arguing that Democrats would benefit most from permitting felons to vote.

In the study, published in the American Sociological Review, Christopher Uggen of Minnesota and Jeff Manza of Northwestern contended that seven in 10 votes cast by disqualified voters would have gone to Democratic candidates in a series of U.S. Senate elections between 1972 and 2000.

Todd Dorman can be contacted at

(515) 243-0138 or at todd.dorman@lee.net.