Proposal: Votes cast by Iowans who register on Election Day provisional

DES MOINES — Any vote cast by an Iowan who registers on Election Day would be automatically considered provisional until officials could verify the voter’s information a second time under legislation advanced Thursday by Republican state lawmakers.

The provision is one of three elections laws changes proposed by Iowa Sen. Sandy Salmon, a Republican from Janesville, and advanced by Salmon and fellow Republican Sen. Jason Schultz, of Schleswig.

Under the other proposals, all ballots would be recorded, preserved and be considered public information — including which candidates were selected, but without any of the voter’s identifying information; and Iowans could challenge voter registration information across county lines.

Salmon and Schultz advanced the bills after hearing public testimony from Iowans who said that the proposals are needed to ensure the government list of Iowa voters is accurate and current, and to prevent election fraud.

Michael Bayer, from Waterloo, testified on all three bills via video conferencing. He said activists like him are trying to ensure Iowa’s voter registration information is accurate.

“Every ineligible voter on voter rolls is an opportunity for bad actors to request an absentee ballot in that voter’s name,” Bayer said, although the state has other extensive steps in place to prevent mail-in voter fraud.

By state law — including some that have been passed by Republicans in recent years — any Iowan who votes by mail must be registered to vote, and must provide his or her date of birth, residential address, a driver’s license number or government-approved voter identification number and a signature.

“If for some odd reason, if they would decide to take one of those names and request an absentee (ballot), we go through and we check and we verify identification … to make sure and certify that the person requesting is the person that is registered to vote,” said Jamie Cashman, a lobbyist for the Iowa State Association of County Auditors, the organization that represents the county officials who administer Iowa’s elections.

Cashman said the proposal to allow Iowans to file voter registration challenges across county lines could place unnecessary workload burdens on those county elections officials. Under current law, Iowans can challenge the voter registration of a registered voter who resides in the same county.

Some activist groups have recently filed massive challenges to voter registration information, including in Iowa. Hundreds of Iowa voters’ registrations were challenged in Linn and Black Hawk counties last fall, roughly two months before the November election. The number of registration challenges in those counties were extraordinarily higher than usual, county elections officials said.

In Black Hawk County, all but two of the 570 challenged registrations were to voters whose status was inactive, meaning they had not voted in the 2020 election, officials there said. In Linn County, officials said it appears a majority of the challenged registrations belonged to voters who moved out of state.

State law requires the opportunity for a 10-minute hearing for any Iowa voter whose registration has been challenged.

“That’s our fundamental concern, is being able to let people go from county to county, making hundreds of requests that really put an unneeded burden on county auditors and their staff,” Cashman said.

In the Iowa House, elections law legislation proposed by Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, a Republican from Wilton, includes a provision that would require a bond payment on any voter registration challenge. Kaufmann said the provision was requested by auditors.

“I’m trying to thread the line between making sure that people have the ability to object and challenge, while also ensuring that auditors are able to do their job free of very large financial obligations stemming from challenges,” Kaufmann said.

Kaufmann’s proposal, House File 356, passed the House’s state government committee Thursday and is now eligible for debate by the full Iowa House.

On Election Day registration in Salmon’s bill, Cashman said a second verification is not needed because the initial voter registration is designed to confirm the voter’s identity.

Salmon’s proposals, Senate Files 341, 342 and 351, are now eligible for consideration by the full Senate committee on state government.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate was not available late Thursday for reaction.

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