Advocacy groups sue over Iowa list aimed at noncitizen voting

DES MOINES — Two Iowa groups that advocate for voting rights are contesting in federal court a directive from the state’s top elections official to challenge the ballots of over 2,000 Iowans whose U.S. citizenship, according to the state, is unclear.

Iowa chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the League of United Latin American Citizens filed the lawsuit late Wednesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa.

Among the other plaintiffs are four Iowans who recently became U.S. citizens but are nonetheless on Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s list of 2,176 individuals who registered or attempted to vote while, he said, their citizenship was unclear on his office’s records.

Pate has ordered poll workers to challenge the ballots of any individuals on the list if they show up to vote and require them to vote with a provisional ballot — unless they provide proof of citizenship at the polls. Voters who cast provisional ballots have until Nov. 12 to provide documentation proving their U.S. citizenship to have their ballot counted.

The lawsuit argues Pate’s order violates the plaintiffs’ fundamental right to vote as well as due process and equal protection guarantees under the U.S. Constitution. The lawsuit asks the federal courts to stop Pate’s order and asks for immediate relief. A hearing has been scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday at the federal courthouse in Des Moines.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit speak

Two of the plaintiffs, Orcun Selcuk and Alan David Gwilliam, spoke during a virtual news conference conducted Thursday by ACLU of Iowa. Both are recently naturalized citizens who say their names are on the Secretary of State’s list and told to cast a provisional ballot.

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Selcuk is a native of Turkey who says he became a U.S. citizen in 2023. Selcuk, a political science professor at Luther College, said he has voted in three elections and did not have any issues in those. But when he voted early in this election, Selcuk said he received a notice from the Winneshiek County Auditor challenging his ballot.

“As a political science professor, I understand and feel deeply about the importance of voting in a democracy,” Selcuk said. “I know that the more hassles and bureaucracy and hoops a person has to jump through, the less likely they are to vote to have their vote count.”

Selcuk said the one-page notice from the county auditor was “very confusing” and did not explain what he needed to do to verify his citizenship. Selcuk said he is concerned for other people on the list who may lack the time or resources to return to their county auditor’s office to verify their citizenship again, or who may feel intimidated.

“After you become a U.S. citizen, one of the things they tell you is that you are now eligible to vote. But the state of Iowa seems to have some questions about that,” Selcuk said.

What the Pate and federal agencies say

The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office did not respond Thursday to a request for comment about the lawsuit, but Pate issued a statement with an update on his effort to get U.S. citizenship information from the federal government.

Pate has said that he has been trying to get citizenship information from federal immigration officials, and that — according to Pate — the federal government has not been willing to share it.

Pate said he has been trying to acquire information from SAVE, which verifies immigration and citizenship status of applicants for government benefits or licenses. His statement said the Des Moines Field Office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, which operates SAVE, has completed a review of all 2,176 names on the Secretary of State’s list. Pate said the agency’s Washington, D.C., office is refusing to let the Des Moines office share those results.

“This information would be critical to Iowa’s election officials in this process and ensure naturalized citizens can cast their ballots as normal,” Pate said in his statement. “The work has been done. The most current, verified information is available. Yet Washington, D.C. will not share it with us. …

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“If the federal government has information that will ensure only U.S. citizens vote and ensure naturalized citizens can cast their ballot as normal, that information must be shared.”

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services did not respond to a request for comment.

In his statement, Pate also said the U.S. Department of Justice “has indicated they may challenge Iowa’s process.”

The U.S. Department of Justice for a third consecutive day declined to comment. A justice department spokesperson deferred to the lawsuit brought by ACLU and LULAC.

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office joined the case to defend the state in court documents.

“Iowa law guarantees that every eligible voter can vote and every legal vote will count,” Bird said in a statement. “But now, with only a few days until the election, and many Iowans already voting, LULAC is trying to derail our election integrity systems to let noncitizens illegally vote.”

LULAC, the ACLU of Iowa and the plaintiffs have not argued in their court filings or public comments that noncitizens should vote.

“Every noncitizen who illegally votes cancels out an Iowan’s valid vote,” Bird’s statement continued. “We won’t let that happen. I am fighting to defend our long-standing election integrity laws and ensure Iowans can maintain trust in our elections.”

What county auditors are saying

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, who ran unsuccessfully for Iowa Secretary of State against Pate in 2022, has been critical of Pate’s list. Miller said he has been working with the Linn County Sheriff’s Office and federal immigration authorities, and thus far all 28 names reviewed out of the 150 in Linn County are naturalized U.S. citizens.

Johnson County Auditor Erin Shane said in a news release that as of Thursday afternoon, officials had confirmed U.S. citizenship for 63 people out of 295 Johnson County residents on list and one person was referred to law enforcement “for additional clarification and investigation” to determine eligibility.

Shane’s office has sent a letter to each county resident on the list to notify them and educate them how to ensure their ballot is counted.

“The people who have received our letters are coming into our office with a range of emotions from disappointment to understandably angry,” Shane said in a statement. “One person came in yesterday to prove their citizenship, and along with their naturalization papers, showed us letters they received seven years ago from (U.S.) Sen. Joni Ernst and then-U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack congratulating them on their citizenship. They did not understand how this could happen.”

Emails show Pate used outdated data

State Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City, criticized Pate for relying on a database he said the office knew would ensnare recently naturalized citizens. Zabner shared emails with The Gazette that he sent to Pate's office starting in fall 2022 about a flaw in the Iowa Electronic Voter Registration System.

Pate, during a news conference with reporters held Wednesday, acknowledged the data his office used to produce the list was outdated. He said he would like to use better data but that his office ran into those federal government roadblocks.

Zabner sent an email dated Sept. 29, 2022, to the Secretary of State’s Office. In it, Zabner wrote he was “concerned that the online system may not work for new citizens who obtained their driver's licenses before becoming citizens.” He had been assisting a North Liberty resident who recently had been naturalized but was unable to register to vote through an online form on the Iowa Department of Transportation website.

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“Because the new citizen had an Iowa-issued driver’s license, I directed him to the Iowa Electronic Voter Registration System,” Zabner wrote in the email. “When the new citizen filled out the online form, he was directed to a message saying that he was ‘Ineligible to register to vote online. Records on file with the Iowa Department of Transportation indicate that you do not meet the requirements to register to vote at this time.’”

The Iowa City lawmaker explained the flaw in the online system and provided the North Liberty resident with a physical voter registration form that was delivered to the county auditor.

“While these voters are able to register successfully by mail or at their county auditor’s office, I am concerned about the disparity in voter registration access for new citizens,” Zabner wrote. “I am also concerned that the text of the online system’s error may lead voters to mistakenly believe that they are not eligible to vote simply because Iowa DOT data has not been updated with their citizenship status.”

Zabner shared additional emails with The Gazette documenting that Pate’s office acknowledged the problem and worked to add a new warning to the Iowa DOT’s voter registration portal. The website now alerts naturalized citizens who were issued an Iowa driver’s license or nonoperator ID prior to their naturalization ceremony to update their citizenship status with the Iowa DOT in order to use the online voter registration portal. It also encourages them to use the paper registration form until their citizenship status has been updated.

Zabner, a University of Iowa graduate student, is vying for a second term in the Iowa House.

“Iowans are sick and tired of political stunts. Unfortunately, Paul Pate has chosen to use DOT data that his office knew was faulty to advance election misinformation and make it harder for some newly naturalized citizens to vote,” he told The Gazette. “Election integrity is crucial and only citizens should be allowed to vote, but making it harder for new citizens to vote does not make our elections any more secure than they already are.”

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

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