Judge upholds state guidelines to challenge ballots from potential non-citizens • Iowa Capital Dispatch

A total of 2,176 people were affected — 2,022 who identified themselves as noncitizens with the Iowa Department of Transportation or another state entity and later registered to vote or participate in elections within the past twelve years. Another 154 people were identified as having registered to vote or participated in elections, and later identified themselves as non-citizens.

While there are individuals on the list – including the plaintiffs represented in the lawsuit – who are naturalized citizens and thus can legally vote, federal officials also identified 250 names are on the Iowa voter rolls who appear to be non-citizens. Registering to vote or voting as a non-citizen in U.S. elections is a felony in Iowa, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of $750 to $7,500.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher wrote in the decision that he would not block Pate’s guidance, or require individuals on the list to vote regularly, because there are at least some individuals on the list who are not U.S. citizens.

“It seems undisputed that some of the names are on Secretary Pate’s list does indeed include registered voters who are not U.S. citizens,” Locher wrote. ‘This part seems to do that are relatively small – no more than twelve percent – ​​but still the interim relief requested by the judge Plaintiffs would essentially force local election officials to allow these individuals to vote.”

The ACLU challenged the law on multiple fronts, including on the grounds that it violated the federal National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day “silent period” requirement for systematic removal of voters prior to elections. Locher agreed with the state’s arguments that this law did not violate these standards as no voters were removed from Iowa’s voter rolls, only their voter qualifications were challenged in the election.

He also referred to two U.S. Supreme Court rulings in recent days allowing voters to be removed from Virginia’s voter rolls by Governor Glenn Youngkin’s executive order, as well upholding the Pennsylvania The decision of the Supreme Court so that voters can submit provisional ballots if their mail ballots were found to be defective. He said these precedents “lead the Court to act with great caution before granting last-minute injunctive relief over the way Iowa officials handle election issues.”

Locher noted that listed voters still appear on Iowa voter rolls and are eligible to submit regular ballots if they provide proof of citizenship when casting their ballot. He added that local election officials are not necessarily required to challenge each of the individuals listed as potential noncitizens.

“In the same way, Pate’s counsel indicated—consistent with the Court’s interpretation of Iowa law—that this was local election officials are not necessarily required to challenge the votes of any person on the list of 2,176 voters and can instead make their own independent judgments based on the information availableo the official, including, but not limited to, the information contained in Secretary Pate’s letter,” Locher wrote.

Pate released a statement Sunday celebrating the ruling as a “victory for Iowa’s election integrity.”

“American elections are for American citizens, and ensuring that only eligible voters participate in the election process in Iowa is essential to protecting the integrity of the vote,” Pate said in the statement. “The role of the Iowa Secretary of State requires balance – ensuring that every eligible voter can cast their ballot while ensuring that only eligible voters participate in Iowa elections. Both are critical components to election integrity in Iowa.”

Pate also noted that the agency will “continue to seek clarity” on the current citizenship status of those on the list, and reiterated his request that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Citizenship and Immigration Services allow its field office in Des Moines to provide information about these people. In a news release Thursday, Pate said the USCIS office in Iowa confirmed it had completed an investigation into the people identified as potential noncitizens, but that the federal USCIS office “refuses to provide the Des Moines office with these results to share with us.”

The Secretary of State on Sunday reiterated his call on “the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services Office in Washington DC to allow the Iowa field office to release this clarifying information to us, which is critical to ensuring that only American citizens vote in our elections.”

Other Republican elected officials statewide, including Governor Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird, also praised the district court’s decision. Bird said she was “pleased to lead the fight in court to defend Iowa’s longstanding election integrity laws,” and said the ruling “is a guarantee to all Iowans that their votes will count and not be nullified are done by illegal votes.”

Reynolds called the ruling “a victory for election integrity.”

“While we encourage all citizens in Iowa to vote, we will enforce the law and ensure those votes are not nullified by the illegal vote of a non-citizen,” Reynolds said in a statement.

The ACLU of Iowa has not released a response to the decision at the time of publishing this article.