Iowa AG Bird will prosecute alleged voter fraud by non-U. S. citizen in Marshall County

DES MOINES — A case involving alleged registration and voting by a legal U.S. resident without U.S. citizenship in an Iowa city’s local elections will be prosecuted by Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office, her office said Friday.

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Bird’s office said it will take the lead in prosecuting Jorge Oscar Sanchez-Vasquez, 42, of Marshalltown, who was arrested Wednesday on two counts of election misconduct.

Sanchez-Vasquez has been charged with registering to vote and voting on July 16 in a special election for Mashalltown City Council despite not being a U.S. citizen and eligible voter.

Sanchez-Vasquez legally resides in the U.S., according to the Iowa AG’s Office, but does not have U.S. citizenship, according to the charges.

According to voter registration records obtained from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, Sanchez-Vasquez registered to vote on July 16 — he did not list a political party when registering — and voted on that same day.

A 2023 change in Iowa state law gave the Iowa Attorney General’s Office exclusive jurisdiction to prosecute election crimes. This is not the first such case taken by the Iowa AG’s office, a spokeswoman said.

Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips told the Marshalltown Times-Republican that Sanchez-Vasquez was aware he was violating state law by registering and voting in the city’s special election.

“He had full knowledge (that) he was not valid to vote,” Phillips told the Times-Republican. “This typically does not happen.”

According to the Times-Republican, the sheriff’s office investigated the allegations after being notified by the county auditor and county attorney. The sheriff’s office then turned the investigation over to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office.

A district court date is set for Oct. 2 in Marshall County, according to the AG’s Office.

Attempts by non-U.S. citizens to vote in U.S. elections are rare, data shows.

According to the Associated Press, research by the Brennan Center for Justice in 2017 found that out of 23.5 million votes cast in 42 jurisdictions during the 2016 election, only about 30 cases of potential noncitizen voting were referred for prosecution or further investigation.

Former President Donald Trump, who is the Republican nominee seeking another term in the White House, has pushed for federal legislation that would require proof of citizenship for voter registration. The SAVE Act this week in the U.S. House was tied to a vote on federal spending, which failed to pass. All four of Iowa’s Republican U.S. House members voted for the spending bill.

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