A revised version of the new voter registration forms are now available from the Secretary of State’s office. The Iowa ACLU had raised concerns about the layout of the quesions on the forms. Spokesman, Chance McElhaney, says they made changes so the voter eligibility question is the first thing on the new form.
“There are three easy questions that we move to the very top, ‘ are you a citizen of the United States, will you be 18 before election day, and if you’ve been convicted of a felony, have your rights been restored?’ If you answer no to any of those questions you’re not eligible to vote,” McElhaney says.
He says it should make it harder to accidentally register to vote if you’re not eligible. “Nobody wants anyone to commit a felony mistakenly. How the previous form was set up, you got to those qualifications at the very end right when you were about to sign , and we want to make sure that right up front should I be filling out this form or not,” McElhaney says.
McElhaney says county auditors, the voter registration commission, and the secretary of state collaborated on the new form. The new version of the form has passed muster with the ACLU.