ACLU: Iowa election officials improperly processed requests to purge voters from rolls

Some Iowa county auditors have improperly processed “mass voter challenges” just weeks before the Nov. 5 general election contrary to state and federal law, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU could not provide specific numbers of affected voters and encouraged reporters to investigate further. It also could not say how voters were targeted for the challenges.

The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office last week emailed county auditors and county attorneys about challenges to Iowa voters’ registrations occurring across the state, and reminding them that state and federal laws prevent them from removing registered voters from their voting lists shortly before the election.

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The Oct. 23 email states the Secretary of State’s Office was recently alerted by VoteShield, a vendor used by the office to monitor voter registration data for anomalies, that a number of counties were improperly processing challenge-related cancellations.

As a result, some voters have had their registrations wrongfully canceled based upon these challenges, according to the ACLU.

The national ACLU and the ACLU of Iowa have sent letters to all 99 Iowa county auditors and the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office to ensure they follow state and federal laws, and urges them to reinstate any voters they may have improperly removed.

The letter references complaints from impacted voters about challenges from private parties asking for the voter registration cancellation of thousands of voters in Johnson, Muscatine and Pottawattamie counties. The ACLU notes the Iowa and federal law are intended to fend off such efforts that could incorrectly push out eligible voters without giving them enough time to defend their eligibility.

Pate’s email states, “If the information that we have is correct, and your county did process cancellations as part of a voter registration challenge, we strongly suggest your offices meet to discuss whether reversing those challenges until after election day is prudent.”

State and federal ‘freeze periods’

Iowans are able by state law to challenge voter registration information at any time, if they believe the information is incorrect or fraudulent. However, Iowa law specifies that voter challenges cannot be processed less than 70 days before the next election. Federal voting law also generally prohibits purging individuals from voter rolls 90 days ahead of the election.

Those deadlines are in place to make sure that if someone's registration is challenged, they have enough time to appeal it before Election Day, said Ari Savitzky, a senior staff attorney with ACLU Voting Rights Project.

Iowa law contains exceptions. If a challenge is received within 20 days of a new registration or a change to a voter’s existing registration, it can be processed at the time the auditor determines there is sufficient evidence to warrant cancellation. Voter registration challenges also can be processed immediately if the registered voter has died, and sufficient evidence is presented.

Federal law also allows removal based on conviction of a felony, the death of the voter or a correction to the registration records.

ACLU: Challenges not based on personal knowledge of voters

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ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said the mass voter challenges are being submitted amid a rise in efforts around the country to remove a large number of registered voters based on “flawed efforts to match up the voter file with incomplete or unreliable and often outdated sources of information.”

“These appear to be the type of malicious, mass voter challenges by individuals and groups who want to disrupt the election,” Austen said. “ … They are not based on any personal knowledge about voters, and they’re meant to create a false narrative about voter fraud. The strong safeguards in state and federal law against these efforts exist for a reason. It’s sad and frankly outrageous that these efforts may be taking place in Iowa.”

Former president Donald Trump and his Republican allies have pushed a false narrative that noncitizens are voting in droves to sow public mistrust and lay the groundwork for a potential challenge of the results of the Nov. 5 election should he lose.

Studies and audits by state election officials indicate that voting by noncitizens is rare. The Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, called claims of widespread noncitizen voting “bogus” this year after reviewing state policies and previous audits.

Voter removal requests separate from SOS noncitizen voter audit

The ACLU notes requests for mass removal of Iowa voters from the voter registration lists is separate from Iowa Secretary of State Pate’s directive issued last week to county auditors to have poll workers challenge more than 2,200 registered voters based on citizenship.

Pate has sent a list of more than 2,000 potential noncitizens — people who have reported to the Iowa Department of Transportation that they are noncitizens in the past 12 years and since registered to vote — to county auditors, requiring the individuals to cast provisional ballots, though advocates say a majority are likely naturalized citizens.

Austen advised new citizens to contact the ACLU or their county auditor if they are concerned about their voter registration or ballot being challenged.

During the 2022 election, Iowa elections officials saw a surge of challenges to voter registration files inspired by a 2020 election results denier.

Local elections officials said they typically receive roughly a handful of challenges to voter registrations each election cycle.

"But what is most important here is that Iowa voters know that state and federal laws protect them from these efforts and that fortunately, our Iowa election officials know that,” the ACLU’s Austen said. “We want Iowa voters to take heart and exercise their right to vote with confidence. Our democracy depends on all of us.”

Comments: (319) 398-8499; tom.barton@thegazette.com