Secretary of State candidates motivated by public service

CEDAR RAPIDS - One thing Iowa voters can be sure of on Nov. 4 when casting a vote for the next Secretary of State - who will serve as the state's commissioner of elections - is that this year's candidates have election experience.

Democrat Brad Anderson, a political consultant, has run campaigns for a variety of referendums and candidates, including President Barack Obama's 2012 Iowa campaign.

Republican Paul Pate has stood for election, wining seats in the Iowa House and Senate as well as being elected mayor of Cedar Rapids twice and serving a term as Secretary of State in the late 1990s.

Neither is a stranger to the partisan battles of electioneering, but they say their campaigns are motivated by their sense of duty.

'It's about public service,” Pate says. 'Iowans are looking for someone who will step in and promote our elections process and get people involved again. I feel that's something that needs to be done. It's not finished.”

Pate said he's looking forward to returning to state government and doing 'what we can to encourage voter participation and to protect the integrity of it.”

Election integrity also is high on Anderson's list of reasons for running for office. He cited his experience running campaigns for local issues as well as the voter-approved Iowa Water and Land Legacy Conservation constitutional amendment in 2010.

Still, he hadn't thought about running for office until he grew frustrated with Secretary of State Matt Schultz, a Republican who is not seeking re-election. Schultz, Anderson said, was 'wasting taxpayer dollars trying to prove voter fraud and election misconduct is rampant in Iowa.

'So I am proposing a different approach and a better approach, one that says let's make it easier to vote, hard to cheat,” he said.

Also, Anderson, who along with his wife owns a small business, wants to modernize the business filings operations of the office.

A key difference between Anderson and Pate is their positions on requiring voters to present a photo ID to vote.

According to Pate, 93 percent of Iowa voters have a driver's license that includes a photo ID. States with photo ID requirements offer examples of how the state can provide the other 7 percent of voters with the proper identification.

It's not because of a wave of voter fraud, Pate said, but as a precaution to give voters confidence in the election system.

'It's no different from us having locks on our house doors or in our cars or our businesses,” Pate said. '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. (Voters) want to know that their vote is being protected.”

Anderson supports the current voter ID law that says any poll worker can ask any voter for his or her ID in any election. That law has worked for decades.

'We have some of the cleanest, most fair elections in the entire nation right here in Iowa,” Anderson said.

To strengthen election integrity Anderson would expand use of electronic poll books that allow voters to check in electronically and tells the poll workers the voter is in the right place and is eligible to vote.

'It would prevent election misconduct whether intentional or not before it happens rather than having to spend all of these taxpayer dollars in years of investigations after the fact,” Anderson said.

Candidate Bios:

Paul Pate

' Age: 56

' Party: Republican

' Hometown: Cedar Rapids

' Occupation: Owner, Pate Asphalt Systems

' Previous political experience: Iowa Legislature, secretary of state, Cedar Rapids mayor

' Highest education: Associate of arts, Kirkwood Community College

Brad Anderson

' Age: 39

' Party: Democrat

' Hometown: Des Moines

' Occupation: Partner, LPCA Public Strategies and Link Strategies

' Previous political experience: Campaign communications, management

' Highest education: Bachelor of arts, political science, North Carolina State University