Poll site guidance questioning thousands of Iowans' citizenship in limbo as court considers ruling
Iowa counties are awaiting a federal court ruling that could impact more than 2,000 Iowa voters in the upcoming election.
An order from the Iowa Secretary of State requiring certain voters to use provisional ballots until they can prove their citizenship status is in question after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday claiming the move was unconstitutional.
The guidance is the result of an audit comparing voter registration and Department of Transportation records. If found, more than 2,000 registered voters told the DOT they were not citizens at some point. Their citizenship status may have changed since then, so the Secretary of State says those people should fill out provisional ballots until their citizenship status is verified.
The ACLU said providing that guidance so close to election day is unconstitutional and should not be considered when people head to the polls. They say the audit should have been completed months ago, and enforcing it now discriminates against the people on that list.
"There's a correct time and place for conducting list maintenance to less than two weeks before an election based on flawed data is not the correct time or manner for doing so under federal law. And so naturalized citizens are not collateral damage. They are eligible voters who have a fundamental right to vote," Jonathan Topaz from the ACLU Voting Rights Project said.
The Secretary of State's Office is holding firm on the decision to issue guidance with the available information. In a statement, Secretary of State Paul Pate said, "The federal government will not share (the full) data with us, which is critical to ensuring only eligible U.S. citizens vote in our elections."
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird also released a statement on the suit:
"Every legal vote must count and not be canceled out by a non-citizen's illegal vote. State and federal law are clear. Today, we made our case in court to defend Iowa's election integrity laws and safeguard the vote."
The court set a filing deadline for noon Saturday to submit any supporting documents and is expected to hand down a ruling on Sunday.
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