The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Kelli Jo Griffin, a Montrose, Iowa, mom who is striving to regain her right to vote.
Griffin lost her voting rights in 2008 following a nonviolent drug conviction. She completed her probation but can no longer vote due to that conviction.
Many states restore voting rights automatically after citizens complete their sentences. Iowa is one of three states where people with a criminal conviction can lose their voting rights for life; that right is restored solely at the discretion of the governor.
Asks For Her Right to Vote Back
"Our client is bravely standing up for her right to vote on policies that will impact her and her family, and to protect the rights of other Iowans who like her couldn't go to the polls earlier this week and exercise this most simple and basic of our civil rights," said Rita Bettis, legal director of the ACLU of Iowa.
"People who have served their sentence should have the opportunity to fully contribute to their communities and to our democracy," said Julie Ebenstein, an attorney with the ACLU's Voting Rights Project. "Many of these citizens work, pay taxes, and raise their families in our communities, yet they continue to be unfairly punished and left without a political voice."
See a short video of Kelli explaining why she wants back her right to vote.
The lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, seeks to restore Griffin's voting rights; asks the court to declare that the Iowa Constitution prohibits the disenfranchisement of people convicted of lower-level felonies (such as nonviolent drug offenses), and seeks an injunction to stop the state from bringing criminal charges against Iowans with past lower-level felonies who register to vote.
In September, that district court upheld a state law that disqualifies anyone who has been convicted of a felony from voting in the ACLU case Griffin v. Pate. The district court stated that the Iowa Supreme Court must clarify the definition of “infamous crime” as used in the Iowa Constitution to disqualify voters. The ACLU has appealed to the Iowa Supreme Court, asking the Court to decide that a nonviolent drug conviction does not disqualify Kelli Griffin, the petitioner, from voting, because it is not an “infamous crime.”
A series of executive orders from different Iowa governors has left a confusing patchwork of voting rights affecting those with a past criminal conviction. From 2005-2010, the state automatically restored voting rights, but in 2011 it revoked that policy, failing to notify people affected by the change adequately. There is also a lack of clarity about which crimes strip Iowans of their right to vote. Until a recent state court ruling involving the ACLU, Iowans with some types of misdemeanor offenses were treated as if they lost their right to vote by the governor's office, but not the secretary of state. Some Iowans who thought they could vote were charged with crimes for getting it wrong.
Confusing Voter Laws
Griffin became entangled in this morass in 2008, when she was correctly informed that, under the policy in place at that time, her right to vote would be restored when she completed probation in January 2013. During a local election in 2013, she went to her polling place with her children to teach them the importance of voting. Griffin cast her ballot not knowing she was no longer eligible to vote under Gov. Terry Branstad’s latest policy, adopted in 2011. She was later arrested and charged as part of the state's voter fraud investigation championed by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz. At trial, it took just 40 minutes for the jury to acquit her, though she remains blocked from voting under current Iowa law.
"Once you've changed your life, then you're saying that you are a productive member of society, and that's what the courts are telling you too when they release you from probation. So given that, why aren't other people given back the right to vote? We are productive members of society, so why aren't we treated like it?" said Griffin, a mother of four who actively contributes to her community through her volunteer work on behalf of children and others who, like her, are survivors of abuse or are in recovery for addiction.
The petition, Griffin v. Branstad, was filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Iowa. It names Gov. Terry Branstad, Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz, and Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise as defendants.
To see the petition, click here.