Secretary of State candidates disagree on voter ID

JOHNSTON - Requiring photo identification to vote was, not surprisingly, the dominant theme of a discussion with Iowa's secretary of state candidates Friday during filming of this week's 'Iowa Press” program on Iowa Public Television.

Democrat Brad Anderson and Republican Paul Pate are seeking the office, which is open after first-term incumbent Matt Schultz ran unsuccessfully for Congress.

Pate, Iowa's secretary of state from 1995 to 1999 and owner of a Cedar Rapids paving company, supports requiring a photo ID to vote, a mission of many Republicans nationwide, including Schultz. Pate said it would not be the burden on people without an ID that opponents have suggested.

'Ninety-three percent of our voters have a driver's license. So it's that 7 percent that we still need to reach,” Pate said. 'Several states have stepped up to that and are good examples we can go and look at for models. We can do that through DHS departments, we can do that through extending to them a free access for ID at the polling place. There are many options, and other states have done it very successfully.

'... The track record we've seen in other states, it has not slowed down or inhibited them from voting. Clearly, it's one of those things that people like to talk about to create a smoke effect, if you will, in politics.”

Anderson, who has worked on campaigns for multiple Democratic candidates, including President Barack Obama in 2012, supports the law as currently written and does not think it needs to be expanded.

'I support the current voter ID bill. The current voter ID bill on the books here in Iowa says that any poll worker can ask any voter for their ID in any election, period,” Anderson said. 'And I support that for a simple reason: because this law has been effective for decades. We have some of the cleanest, most fair elections in the entire nation right here in Iowa. And we should be proud of that.”

Anderson said he does support additional measures to ensure electoral integrity. Specifically, he said he supports expanding the use of electronic records systems at polling locations in all 99 counties. Electronic poll books can confirm when a voter arrives at the poll, and whether he or she is eligible to vote and in the right polling location.

'The reason this is so terrific is because what this would do is it would prevent election misconduct, whether intentional or not, before it happens, rather than having to spend all these taxpayer dollars and years in investigations after the fact,” Anderson said.

Anderson also advocated for permanent vote by mail, in which a voter can request an absentee ballot automatically be mailed to him or her at every election. He said that would help resolve the issue of low voter turnout, especially in local elections.

Pate said he does not support that plan, saying a solid foundation must first be set to ensure integrity in the process.

'I'm real excited about giving people more opportunities to participate in our election process, but first you have to establish a strong foundation, make sure that integrity's there,” Pate said. 'Election poll books are great, but we don't have photos on those right now. So I'm saying expand that and add the photo to it. Just give the people that security.

'It's no different than us having locks on our house doors or in our cars or our businesses. We're not doing that because we think there's rampant crime; we do it to protect ourselves and give us that feeling of security. And that's what people want as voters. They want to know that their vote is being protected.”