Iowa active registered voters totals rebounding, but still trail pre-2022 election levels

DES MOINES — The number of Iowa voters with active registration status remains below 2022 election levels after voter roll maintenance required by a new state law, but it is rebounding.

One provision of a sweeping state elections law passed by Iowa Statehouse Republicans in 2021 requires the Iowa Secretary of State, the state’s top elections official, to change the registration status of any voter who does not vote in any single general election from active to inactive.

Prior to that law, an Iowa voter’s registration status did not change until the voter failed to vote in two consecutive general elections.

Iowans can vote whether their registration status is active or inactive.

Moving a registration status from active to inactive does not impact an Iowan’s ability to vote, although it does move their registration one step closer to being canceled.

The 2022 election was the first under the new state law, and in April of 2023 more than a half-million Iowa voters’ registration status was changed from active to inactive. That was more than a quarter of the state’s 2.2 million registered voters.

Voters whose status changed were sent notice by their county auditor in the first quarter of 2023, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office said.

Since then, the number of Iowa voters with active registration status has slowly climbed back up, although it has not yet reached 2022 election levels.

After that April 2023 voter roll update, there were 1,328,793 active registered voters in Iowa. In the latest numbers, published at the beginning of this month, there were 1,558,076 active registered voters in the state.

That’s an increase of 229,283 Iowa voters with active registration status since the 2023 update. But it still is well below the 1,878,691 Iowa voters with active registration status in November 2022.

Iowans with inactive voter status will still remain registered through the 2026 elections. Only after that election — and only if they do not vote before then or take any one of several other actions to return their status to active — would an Iowa voter’s status be canceled.

At that point, the voter would need to re-register, which Iowans can do almost any time, including at the polls on Election Day.

Iowans can learn about their voter registration status through their county auditor or on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website at voterready.iowa.gov.

Here are a few more questions and answers about active and inactive voter registration status, answered by the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. The answers were edited for clarity and brevity.

Q: How does an Iowa voter learn whether their voter registration status has been changed to inactive?

A: Notifications were sent to voters by their county auditor in the first quarter of 2023 to inform them of their inactive status due to not participating in the most recent general election (per state law). They can also check their registration status on our website.

Q: If an Iowa voter’s registration status has changed to inactive, how do they change it back to active?

A: A voter can respond to the card sent to them by the auditor; submit a new voter registration form to their county auditor, either on paper or by using the DOT’s online form; or vote in any election. The act of voting returns their status to active, including requesting an absentee ballot.

Q: Can an Iowa voter with an inactive registration status vote in the November election, including on Election Day?

A: Yes. An inactive status does not change the voting procedure. An inactive voter will have the same experience as an active voter, whether they request an absentee ballot or go to their polling place on Election Day. They still appear in the poll books and they do not have to provide additional documentation, just an ID like every other voter.

Comments: (515) 355-1300, erin.murphy@thegazette.com

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