Voting Rights Restored

If you are not sure if you have a felony conviction in the State of Iowa, you can start by looking yourself up in Iowa Courts Online. Click on “Trial Court Case Search.” Then enter your name and select “DEFENDANT” from the dropdown menu under “Role.” You may enter other information in the other fields and dropdown menus to narrow your search, but you are not required to do so. Click “I’m not a robot” and perform the requested task. Finally, click on “Search” to display a list of cases that match your search terms. Click on any listed “Case ID” to display details about that case. If you have questions regarding your search results, you can contact the Clerk of Court in the county where you were convicted. The Clerk of Court cannot answer questions regarding your eligibility to register to vote.

If you are not sure when you discharged your felony sentence, you can contact the Iowa Department of Corrections by calling the Main number listed at the bottom of their home page.

If you have questions regarding the applicability of Executive Order Number 7, you can call the Governor’s Office at 515-281-5211 or click here to visit their website.

Once you have determined that your right to vote has been restored, you can contact the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office with questions on how to register to vote or other general elections questions.

Not all individuals who face criminal charges actually lose their right to vote. Individuals lose their rights when convicted of a felony criminal offense. Two common examples of those who do not lose their rights are:

• An individual convicted of an aggravated, serious, or simple misdemeanor never lose their right to vote because their conviction was not classified as a felony conviction.
• Deferred Judgments. An individual who was given a deferred judgment for a felony and who is on probation or has successfully discharged probation has not lost the right to vote.

Executive Order 7 restores the rights of citizenship to any person convicted of a felony, except for a violation of Chapter 707 of the Iowa Code (“Homicide and Related Crimes”), and who has discharged his or her sentence on or before August 5, 2020.

• “Discharge of sentence” means completion of any term of confinement, parole, probation, or other supervised release for all felony convictions, and completion of any special sentence imposed pursuant to Chapter 903B.
• Non-Iowa Convictions. Executive Order 7 applies to felony convictions in any jurisdiction, including felony convictions in federal court or the court of another state, to the extent that the conviction resulted in a loss of citizenship rights in Iowa.
• Click here to view Executive Order 7, which serves as evidence of restoration of citizenship rights for those individuals.
• Restoration of voting rights under Executive Order 7 does not include firearms restoration. Any individual seeking a pardon or to have firearm rights restored must submit a separate application to the Iowa Board of Parole, which can be downloaded here.

On a daily basis since August 5, 2020, the Governor has restored the rights of citizenship—including eligibility to vote—to any person convicted of a felony, except for a violation of Chapter 707 of the Iowa Code (“Homicide and Related Crimes”), and who has discharged his or her sentence. The Governor will continue to do so for those who complete their sentences in the future. The restoration of rights is effective immediately upon discharge of sentence without any further action required. The certificate of restoration of citizenship, issued daily, serves as evidence of restoration of citizenship rights for those individuals. While it should not ordinarily be needed, any daily certificate is available from the Office of the Governor. An example daily certificate for August 6, 2020, is available here. If you have questions, call the Governor’s Office at (515) 281-5211.

Executive Order 7 does not restore citizenship rights to those convicted of felony violations of Chapter 707 of the Iowa Code (“Homicide and Related Crimes”). Those individuals may continue to apply for restoration of voting rights once the person has discharged probation or parole.  The applicant must have completed repayment of court costs, restitution, and fines or must be current on a payment plan.

Click here to download an Application for Restoration of Voting Rights.

Complete our quick survey above to determine if you are eligible to register to vote after discharging your felony sentence.

An individual convicted of an aggravated, serious, or simple misdemeanor never lost their right to vote because their conviction was not classified as a felony conviction.

Executive Order 7 applies to felony convictions in any jurisdiction, including felony convictions in federal court or the court of another state, to the extent that the conviction resulted in a loss of citizenship rights in Iowa. County clerks of court do not have information about convictions in other states or in federal court, so they cannot assist with those questions.

Pending felony criminal charges do not make an individual ineligible to vote. The right to vote is only lost upon a conviction of a felony.

No, you do not have to have paid in full or be on a payment plan to pay off fines, fees or restitution. Your obligation to pay those hasn’t gone away; those debts simply are no longer tied to your ability to vote.