‘People are held accountable,’ Iowa AG Bird says of office’s jurisdiction over prosecuting state elections crimes

URBANDALE — The November election is the first one in Iowa under a new law that gives the Iowa Attorney General’s Office the authority to prosecute violations of state elections law.

Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird said her office is not producing any special recommendations or counsel to local elections officials or county attorneys, but stands ready to prosecute elections crimes if the need arises.

Bird addressed that and other questions after speaking Wednesday morning at a suburban Des Moines conservative group’s meeting.

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office was given exclusive jurisdiction over the prosecution of criminal violations of state elections law under legislation authored by Gov. Kim Reynolds’ office in 2023 that called for a wide reorganization of the executive branch of state government.

In advance of the first general election under that new law on Nov. 5, Bird said she wants Iowa voters to remember to bring identification to the polls — Iowa law requires government-issued ID to cast a ballot — and to remember the various options for casting a ballot, including by requesting a ballot via mail and voting early in-person at the county auditor’s office.

And, Bird said, she wants to ensure that voters do not cheat.

“We want to make sure that we always have election integrity in Iowa. I think we do a good job of that here in Iowa,” Bird told reporters after addressing the Westside Conservative Club. “But to the extent that ever doesn’t happen, then it gets investigated and people are held accountable, regardless of political party or anything like that. Everybody’s held accountable under the law.”

The Iowa Attorney General’s Office has informed local law enforcement agencies how to report elections crimes to it under the new law, according to the office’s website.

Criminal charges of election misconduct in Iowa have been rare. A 2017 Gazette investigation found that 23 people were convicted of election misconduct over a five-year span from 2012 to 2016.

In more recent cases, the wife of a Northwest Iowa county supervisor was convicted of 52 counts of voter fraud in a scheme to help her husband’s campaign for Congress in 2020; a Winterset man pleaded guilty to voting twice in the 2022 general election; and earlier this year, an Osceola man pleaded guilty to three counts of election misconduct for voting in three elections in 2020 and 2021 while not being an eligible resident.

A database kept by the conservative Heritage Foundation shows only two cases of election fraud in Iowa since 2020, although that list does not include the Osceola case.

Would Bird work for Trump?

During her remarks to the Westside Conservative Club, Bird spoke glowingly about her experience at July’s Republican National Convention — she delivered a prime-time address on law enforcement — and urged Iowans to support Republican former President Donald Trump’s run for another term.

After the event, Bird was asked by reporters whether she would accept a position in the administration if Trump wins this fall’s presidential election.

“I think we have to be 100 percent focused on the election, and I’m 100 percent focused on my job as (Iowa) Attorney General. I want to do a good job, and we’ve been working hard at that. So that’s where my focus is,” Bird said.

“I think we’ve got a big election ahead of us, and after that, then those kind of questions are things that people can think about. But we have to focus on the job.”

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

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