Iowa AG seeks to reverse court ruling allowing non-English voter materials

Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has appealed a recent district court decision that would allow certain voting materials to be printed in languages other than English.

In a statement, Bird — a Republican — said the move is an effort to “protect election integrity and defend state law.”

The appeal follows a June court decision in which a district court judge ruled that county election officials could provide voters with non-English voter materials, like registration forms.

“The Iowa English Language Reaffirmation Act is clear; all official documents are to be written in English — including voter registration forms,” Bird said in a statement. “We look forward to arguing our case in court to uphold the Act and secure the integrity of our elections.”

The June decision overruled a long-standing interpretation of Iowa law that barred the state and counties from providing voter registration forms and other materials in languages other than English. The lawsuit was brought by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) of Iowa against Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, the Iowa Voter Registration Commission and four county auditors.

The Supreme Court will either take up the appeal or send it to the state Court of Appeals to decide.

The law in question, the English Language Reaffirmation Act, was signed in 2002 by Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack. It states that all official government documents in Iowa must be printed in English, with a handful of exceptions. One exception is if any language is “required by or necessary to secure the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America or the Constitution of the State of Iowa.”

After then-U.S. Rep. Steve King, a Republican, brought a lawsuit in 2008, a district court ruled that the law barred the secretary of state from providing voting materials in languages other than English. That lawsuit did not center on the constitutional rights exception, and the judge’s ruling noted that exception may justify non-English language voter forms.

LULAC of Iowa brought its lawsuit in 2021, arguing voting materials should be an exception from the English language mandate because they serve a constitutional right.

The state argued LULAC of Iowa’s interpretation of the law was wrong.

“Of course, voting is a fundamental right protected by both constitutions,” the state argued in a brief. “... But that doesn’t mean that either constitution requires non-English voting materials be provided to all voters or those with limited English-language proficiency.”

In a June decision that dissolved the 2008 ruling, Judge Scott Rosenberg of Iowa’s Fifth Judicial District sided with LULAC. He said non-English voting materials can be necessary to secure the right to vote.

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"One would be hard-pressed to find a right that has been more frequently and unwaveringly praised in this nation than the right to vote,” Rosenberg wrote. “More to the point, American courts have consistently held that the right to vote is unquestionably protected by the U.S. Constitution.”

Secretary of state seeking clarity

In a statement on Wednesday, Pate’s spokesperson Ashley Hunt said the secretary of state’s office has followed the federal Voting Rights Act’s provisions around providing materials in other languages to voters. Those rules require materials to be provided in a non-English language if a certain percentage of a locality belong to a language minority group.

She said the June ruling has added confusion about the rules for voting materials.

“The ruling from the Iowa Court has called into question the bright line we have followed and potentially the intent of the legislature,” Hunt said. “We disagree with the court’s ruling and are appealing to seek clarity now that this decision has added confusion to what was a bright line and clear legislative intent. We will be consulting both our attorneys and legislative leadership about possible next steps.”

LULAC prepares for court fight

Joe Henry, the political director for LULAC, said Wednesday he is disappointed the state has appealed the ruling, but he believes the group has a solid legal argument. He pointed to the 1965 Voting Rights Act that outlawed literacy tests, and said requiring someone to read English to vote violates their constitutional right.

“The constitutional right to vote should never be hampered by anything like this, it’s just so wrong to do this,” he said. “So we’re very concerned. And we feel that we have a good argument. The judge clearly felt that way.”

A little over 5 percent of Iowa’s population is made up of immigrants, according to 2021 data. Henry said LULAC estimates between 30,000 and 50,000 Iowa voters speak a primary language other than English and would benefit from non-English voter materials.

While the Supreme Court weighs whether to take up the case, county auditors may still print non-English voting materials in line with the June ruling, including in the upcoming city and school elections in November. Henry said auditors in Linn and Polk counties are considering providing those materials in the November election.

“In the meantime, it appears that we’re still moving forward on having voting material translated in this upcoming election period,” he said.