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Before I get windy here let me say here right of the bat that if I was permitted and authorized to vote for US President 2012 it would be a bitterly cold day in hell before I gave Mitt Romney my vote and if the only way to keep Romney from winning the presidential election equated to me casting my vote for ineligible Barack Obama I would do so, somewhat reluctantly and apprehensively, but I myself would so.

For the record here I was allowed to vote in 2008 but I didn’t know it until the same night that Barack Obama won the election.   I remember that night.  I was sitting in the living room with a family of black Americans (husband, wife, two children).  When asked who I voted for I replied that I hadn’t voted.  When asked why I had chosen not to vote I stated that I have never had the right to vote for US President.

When asked to elaborate I explained that I in the year 1996 I was only 16 years old and did not yet have the right to vote for Bill Clinton.

I went on to say that in the year 2000, while I was now of legal voting age, I was also now a felon (not to mention I was physically serving a 5 year prison sentence within the Iowa Department of Corrections) and felons in the state of Iowa did not have the right to vote in government elections, including that of US President, and so, that being said, I was not permitted to cast my vote in that election.   Btw, I wouldn’t have given my vote George W. Bush or Al Gore.

At that point my friend, a member of the United States Armed Forces, explained to my that I did have the right to vote in Iowa because Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack (Democrat) issued an executive order (42) which restored the citizenship rights (including right to vote for US President) of all felons with Iowa.

07.04.2005. Iowa Governor, Thomas J. Vilsack. Executive Order Number Forty-Two. July, 4th 2005. (Felons…

Paragraph II:   “The rights of Citizenship, including that of voting and qualification to hold public office, which were forfeited by reason of conviction shall be restored for all offenders that are completely discharged from criminal sentences, including any accompanying term of probation, parole, or supervised release, as of July 4th, 2005, but have not made an application pursuant to Iowa Code Chapter 914.  This executive order shall serve as evidence of restoration of of citizenship rights for such individuals.“

I discharged (no parole, probation or supervised release) on Christmas Day, 2002 and walked out of the front gates of the Newton Correctional Facility (medium site) a categorically and absolutely free man.   The above embedded executive order, issued by Iowa Governor Thomas J. Vilsack (Democrat), on Independence Day 2005, serves as evidence of restoration of my right to vote for, though not limited to, President of the United States of America and for US Congress.

Since discharging (12.25.2002) my prison sentence I have not returned prison or penitentiary within the Iowa Department of Corrections nor within any other State..  Moreover, since that date of discharge, I have not been placed on probation, parole or supervised  release within the state of Iowa.

Then the unthinkable happened in November, 2010…..I was in Cedar Rapids (Wellington Heights neighborhood), Iowa and I walked over to Johnson Elementary School on 18th Street SE not far from my grandmother’s house on 18th Street SE.   Once inside Johnson Elementary I proceeded to straight-party-vote (or straight-ticket-vote).   With a lead pencil I voted Republican for city, county, state and federal elections.   In voting straight party I voted for Terry Branstad (Republican).

Terry Branstad, with the help of my vote as a felon, won the 2010 election and in January, 2011 became the Governor of Iowa.

(Its should be noted, for record here, that Terry Branstad was also Governor of Iowa before Thomas Vilsack became Govenor of Iowa.   Branstad served as Governor of Iowa from 1983 thru 1999.  Vilsack served as Governor of Iowa from 1999 thru 2007.)

On the very day that Branstad assumed office of Governor of Iowa, January 14, 2011, he warmly expressed his gratitude for my vote as a felon with the following executive order (70) which rescinded Vilsack’s 2005 executive order (42):

01.14.2011. Iowa Governor, Terry Branstad. Executive Order Number Seventy. January, 14th 2011. (Felons in I…

As of January 14, 2011 felons in Iowa must make application with the State of Iowa for restoration of their citizenship rights (includes voting).  Moreover, before making that application (which can be denied) it is stipulated that the felon must pay all fines, restitutions, unpaid outstanding monetary obligations and court costs owed to the State of Iowa.

Thank you Governor Terry Branstad (Republican).   I’ve learned a lot from you including that I was a fool to straight-party vote / straight-ticket vote.

I will never again vote for any based solely on their party affiliation.   Mitt Romney wont get my vote and if I had to vote for Barack Obama to keep Romney out of Office I would do so, reluctantly.   Don’t worry though, I don’t have the right to vote.

A few words now from U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice, Earl Warren, in Reynolds v. Sims (1964):  “The right to vote freely for the candidate of one’s choice is of the essence of the democratic society, and any restrictions on that right strike at the heart of representative government.“

Postscript:  For the record, I video-recorded my straight-party voting at Johnson Elementary School in November, 2010 with my then i-Phone (I now use an HTC HD7).