With Iowa in the solidly Republican column for elections since 2012, we’ve been mostly spared the mountains of voting-related litigation and innuendo that has wearied officials and residents in “swing” states.
That changed abruptly 14 days before Election Day when Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s office fired an announcement to reporters styled a “statement” on “noncitizen voting.” He alleged that over 2,000 Iowans who were then registered to vote had, at some point — maybe years earlier in some cases — indicated that they were not U.S. citizens. Pate said a separate group of 154 other people was being referred for potential prosecution for voting or registering to vote without being a citizen. Twelve days later, a federal judge ruled that it was OK for Pate to direct county auditors to challenge attempts by people on the list to vote. Their provisional ballots would still count if they could verify their citizenship.
Fervent partisans took opposing positions on these revelations, but neither camp is fully on solid ground. Based on what’s become public during the whirlwind lead-up to Election Day, here are lessons that should direct government and individual actions going forward: