Two weeks before Election Day, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate instructed county auditors to challenge the votes of more than 2,000 people who had registered to vote but had at some earlier time, perhaps years ago, told the state Department of Transportation they were not citizens.
Pate acknowledged that people on the list may have later become naturalized citizens but said the step was necessary to block those who were not legally allowed to vote. Anyone on the list who showed up to vote would need to cast a provisional ballot and prove their citizenship for their vote to be counted.
A rose goes to the county auditors and their staffs who sprang into action and took extra steps to ensure naturalized citizens could exercise their right to vote with as few impediments as possible.
Linn County Auditor Joel Miller’s office started with a list of 150 people but whittled it to just 16 who needed to be challenged on Election Day, chief politics reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel reported . Black Hawk County Auditor Grant Veeder’s office sent letters to 92 people. Wright County Auditor Betty Ellis’ office confirmed citizenship for all five people on its list. They “were just very, very appreciative that we contacted them, because they didn’t want to be challenged at the polls,” she said.