Curious Iowa: What do election officials do to prevent or catch fraudulent votes?

Early voting in the November city and school elections is already underway across Iowa.

What do election officials do to prevent or catch fraudulent votes in Iowa? That’s what Patricia Meier of Cedar Rapids wanted to know when she reached out to Curious Iowa, a Gazette series that answers readers’ questions about our state and how it works.

To answer Meier’s question, we spoke with Adam Wedmore, Cerro County auditor and president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors, about the work that goes on behind the scenes to verify voter registration information and maintain secure elections.

How is information provided during voter registration verified?

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“The full verification process occurs when they register to vote,” Wedmore told The Gazette. “So, everybody that’s registered to vote or pre-registered to vote, they’ve already been through the verification process.”

Iowa requires registered voters to be a U.S. citizen; be an Iowa resident; be at least 17 years old so long as the voter is 18 by Election Day; not be judged mentally incompetent to vote by a court; and not claim the right to vote in any other state.

Wedmore said that the first two questions on the voter registration form ask whether the person meets the age and U.S. citizenship requirements.

“And if either one of those is a no, then we stop and we don’t go any further,” Wedmore said. “The next step of that is it collects name, sex, date of birth, that sort of information and then we collect information to try to find documentation that proves who they are.”

Once the individual signs and dates the voter registration form, it becomes a legally binding document. Then, the county auditor’s office reviews and verifies the information provided, including checking whether the individual is a felon.

“We have a statewide voter registration system that we refer to as I-Voters and we do a search for similar people, that same voter, maybe they move from a different county, maybe they move from a different state,” Wedmore said, “and we try to find if they’ve got any previous activities.”

If the county auditor’s office can verify that it is the same person, they will update the voter’s registration. If there’s no history available, the Department of Transportation’s driver’s license and non-operator ID system is used to verify that the voter is who they say they are.

“And, if we have to as a last resort, we can use the last four of their social security number and try to identify them that way,” Wedmore said.

If there are discrepancies or concerns, the voter is flagged as a pending voter or incomplete voter and additional research is done.

The county auditor’s office also verifies that the provided mailing address is valid.

“We will produce and mail them a card called the voter acknowledgment card,” Wedmore said. “That has to be sent to their physical address and it’s specifically non-forward-able and it cannot go to a P.O. box.”

If the voter acknowledgment card is returned to the county auditor’s office, an investigation will be launched to determine whether the bad address was provided intentionally.

Wedmore noted that this is the timeline outside of an election period. When there is an election, a pre-registration deadline is set. For the Nov. 4 election, the Iowa online and mail-in voter registration deadline was Oct. 20.

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How are election day registrations verified?

Election Day registration is offered for those who missed the pre-registration deadline.

Those who are registering on Election Day are required to prove who they are and where they live at the time of registration. Wedmore gave the example of proving identity with a driver’s license that has not been expired for more than 90 days. For proving residency, one could bring a bank statement, property tax statement or a cellphone bill dated within 45 days.

“And then if they pass all that, we register them, they can cast a ballot, and then we still follow up with that acknowledgment card after the fact to make sure that it does get to them,” Wedmore said.

Wedmore said not every county has the capability to check election day registrations on the spot, which is why results are unofficial on election night.

“After the election, we will do that processing, and if we find anybody who is a potential duplicate voter or duplicate registration, we refer that to the sheriff’s office and Attorney General’s Office for further investigation,” Wedmore said.

If any voter is found to be ineligible to vote, the Iowa Attorney General’s Office has the exclusive authority to prosecute violations of state elections law.

Wedmore said that in Cerro Gordo County, there are about 32,000 voters and he estimated that with 72 percent voter turnout — “a general high turnout” — about 30 to 40 Election Day registrations would come through.

How do inactive voters become active again?

A 2021 law requires a voter be marked as inactive if the individual did not vote in the previous general election.

Wedmore said that the law resulted in confusion and fear.

“The only thing that they need to do to make that status active is just vote or interact with (a county auditor’s) office somehow. Updating their address or requesting an absentee ballot, things like that would make them active again,” he said.

The Iowa Secretary of State cross checks a federal database against state lists to confirm the eligibility of Iowans who voted or are registered to vote.

If a voter does not vote in two consecutive general elections, their voter registration is canceled. Iowans receive notice upon any change in registration status and have the chance to return to active status.

Wedmore said they have not seen an uptick in cancellations.

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What are the rules for rejecting votes cast during the early voting period?

Mike Simpson of Iowa City wrote to Curious Iowa asking why votes cast during the early voting period may be rejected. Wedmore said there are a few reasons, like if the ballot is not properly sealed.

“There’s an affidavit that’s on that envelope that the voter is required to attest to and it’s very similar to the statement that they are who they say they are, they’re the ones that filled the ballot out, they did not try to vote elsewhere in another jurisdiction,” Wedmore explained. “If that is not signed, that ballot is rejected.”

He noted that if the voter mails the absentee ballot back unsigned, the county auditor’s office has the opportunity to contact the voter, ask them to come in, prove their identity and “cure” the absentee ballot.

“The problem is, if they’re truly out of town, out of state or out of the country for the military or so on, that might be an example where their vote is just not going to count that election,” Wedmore said.

Additionally, Wedmore said county auditor’s offices check obituaries daily.

“If that (absentee) voter were to die between now and Election Day, we would be notified of that and we would actually pull their ballot,” Wedmore said.

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How have recent election laws improved election security?

Two new election laws were signed by Gov. Kim Reynolds earlier this year. House File 928 standardizes the state’s recount procedures and requires that recounts are conducted by county auditors and election workers instead of recount boards.

Plus, all recounts are now required to be conducted using automatic ballot tabulating equipment, except in “extraordinary circumstances” determined by the Iowa Secretary of State or county auditor.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said the new laws will “add additional layers of integrity to our robust election procedures, supporting our efforts to balance election integrity and voter participation.”

“It standardizes across county to county, so if we have a district wide race that encompasses more than one county, it allows for every county to do it the same way,” Wedmore explained, adding that it speeds up the process by utilizing trained election staff.

Another new law, House File 954, allows Iowa poll workers to question voters about their citizenship.

Wedmore said that in order for a poll worker to be legally allowed to object to a voter’s registration, it has to meet specific criteria, like the official knowing or suspecting that the person doesn’t live in the precinct or doesn’t meet the age requirement.

“If somebody were to say, well, I’m not a United States citizen, but I’m just going to check this box and vote and the precinct election official observes that, previously, they weren’t legally allowed to challenge that voter on that basis,” Wedmore said. “Now they can.”

Wedmore said that if a voter is challenged, they are still allowed to cast a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are not counted on election day, but they are kept secure until the voter is given the opportunity to prove that it is a valid ballot.

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The Gazette’s Tom Barton contributed to this report.

Comments: bailey.cichon@thegazette.com

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