DES MOINES, Iowa -- Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds is restoring voting rights to those convicted of felonies who served their sentences.
"When someone serves their sentence and pays the price our justice system has set for their crimes, they should have their right to vote restored, automatically" she said.
Reynolds says she's still urging Iowa lawmakers to put a felon voting rights constitutional amendment in front of Iowa voters.
"Let me be clear. An executive order is, at best, a temporary solution. It can be changed by the stroke of a pen by the next governor, which is not good enough" she said.
"I'm hoping the same passion with which people have called for this executive order will now be directed at getting the constitutional amendment passed" Reynolds said.
Des Moines Democrat State Representative Ako Abdul-Samad praised Reynolds' signing of the executive order.
"What the NAACP has fought for, what Black Lives Matters has fought for...many hands went into this. But, it boils down to the governor taking a stand--standing up to a promise" he said.
Under Reynolds' executive order, those convicted of serious felonies--crimes like murder, and manslaughter--will still have to apply to have their voting rights restores.
Iowa was the last state in the nation to ban felons from voting--even after they served their sentences--unless they applied to the governor to have their rights restored.
Image from WHO-13