# Felon Voter Rights --- Author: Greg Baker Index: [[CAN White Papers]] Word Doc: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/mb0akw722x0k17iuthjif/Felon-Voter-Rights-Support-Summary.docx?dl=0&rlkey=clsgkfzfvh66hphmiuwe9ybwh --- Why We Support Restoring Felon Voter Rights In the Church Ambassador Network, a ministry of The FAMiLY LEADER Foundation, we work to help free people from bondage. Bondage is when people find themselves captured, unable to escape. There are many ways that someone can find themselves in bondage. One of the forms of bondage we see take place is our prison recidivism rate, which is 38%, which means 38% of former prisoners will return to prison. One of the leading reasons for this high rate is because of former prisoner’s inability to re-enter society healthily, sometimes because of mistakes of their own, other times because of systematic barriers. We believe that restoring voter rights is one of many ways we can help our fellow Iowans re-enter society healthily and successfully. For this reason, the Church Ambassador Network and The FAMiLY LEADER Foundation support HSB 68 and SSB 1046, which helps to build a better system. **What HJR 14 would do:** HJR 14 starts the process of amending the Iowa Constitution regarding who is disqualified from voting. Currently, the Iowa Constitution states that “a person convicted of any infamous crime shall not be entitled to the privilege of an elector.” The legislature has defined in Iowa Code throughout the years that an infamous crime is a felony charge. Any person who has committed a class A, B, C, or D felony cannot vote in Iowa, unless those voting rights have been restored by the Iowa Governor. If the amendment is adopted by 2 consecutive General Assemblies and by the people of Iowa, the Iowa Constitution would state that “a person convicted of any felony who has not discharged his or her sentence shall not be entitled to the privilege of an elector.” The Iowa Legislature will have to define what it means to have discharged a sentence, but once the individual does so; their voting rights are restored. The Iowa Legislature could say that a person who has committed murder, rape, is a sexual offender, etc., cannot “discharge” their sentence; could require restitution before “discharging” a sentence; etc. HSB 68 and SSB 1046 give more options on how voter rights can be restored, rather than the current law, which requires all ex-offenders to go through the Governor’s office individually. **Current Iowa Statistics:** · 8,400 prisoners in Iowa Prison System. · Over 52,000 Iowans have committed a felony. · 38% current recidivism rate. (return rate to prison) **This bill is needed for the following reasons:** · Close to God’s heart a. We are all guilty of breaking God’s Law, and just like with man’s law there are consequences. i. God is a righteous judge and He punishes law breakers. ii. His punishment is eternal separation from Him, which is Hell. b. God, however, is also a merciful God who loves people. i. He sent His Son Jesus to pay the debt each and every single one of us owe. As a Judge the debt had to be paid. ii. As a merciful Father the debt was paid by putting the punishment for our sins on His own Son, Christ, through the Cross. iii. Jesus fully satisfied the wrath of God and the mercy of God. iv. _“You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all our sins. He canceled the record of the charges against us and took it away by nailing it to the cross.”_ Colossians 2:13-14. c. All God asks for us is to repent and believe in Christ. d. After our debt is paid, God grants us the rights of a citizen of heaven, and a co-heir of Christ. i. _“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ”_ Philippians 3:20. ii. We must remember the debt God paid for each of us and that we are all law breakers. **iii.** **If God can grant us perfect heavenly citizenship after our debt was paid by Christ (not us), how much more can we grant the benefits of Iowa citizenship to those who paid their own debt?** · Can help lower the recidivism rate. a. Following re-entry, ex-offenders have a long road ahead of them. 38% of ex-offenders in Iowa will return to prison. b. Restoring voter rights helps eliminate feelings of being a second-class citizen and makes re-entry easier. c. Prison Fellowship Ministries states that an ex-offender’s keys to success in re-entry include a safe environment, employment, and belonging to a community. Restoration of voting rights helps an ex-offender better belong to the wider community. · Restoration of voter rights matters more than we think. a. It gives ex-offenders dignity and a sense of belonging after re-entering society. b. Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries and an ex-felon says: “Restoring voting rights is an important way society can welcome back those who strayed, sometimes seriously, but are now on the right path. It costs taxpayers nothing, but it **means a great deal to an ex-offender**.” · This amendment allows our system to be more just. a. An Iowan committing a non-violent Class D felony then having their voting rights permanently removed, even if fully rehabilitated, does not seem to fit the crime. b. Currently a 19 year-old boy, who wrongly steals his neighbor’s $1,500 road bike, permanently loses their voting rights, unless restored by the Governor. c. Chuck Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship, asks: “I served time in a federal prison. And while I paid my debt to society in less than a year, it took me 30 years to have my voting rights restored. Maybe I’m not a good example, having been part of a national political scandal. But what about a young person, say, in his early 20s, who is convicted of three minor drug offenses? Once he serves his time, grows up and straightens out his life, should he be denied the right to vote again?” · Gives more power to the people and the legislature. a. The legislature will have the ability to further define what an Iowan must do to fulfill their debt to society and be restored as a citizen. **Felon Voter Rights Restoration has support from evangelical Christians:** • According to a survey by the National Association of Evangelicals, 93% of evangelical leaders support restoring voting rights to ex-offenders, after they pay their debt to society. • National Association of Evangelicals president Leith Anderson states: “Evangelicals believe in second chances. Actually, we believe in third and fourth and seventy times seven chances.” • Prison Fellowship Ministries states: “Restoration of voting rights is just one of the many collateral consequences preventing the 65 million Americans with a criminal record from achieving closure. Even after ‘paying their debt to society,’ these men and women continue to face the ‘second prison’ of systematic and often life-long barriers to second chance opportunities. After someone has completed their traditional sentence, Prison Fellowship believes only restrictions to personal liberty that have a demonstrated and substantial link to protecting public safety should be permissible.”