Des Moines, Iowa – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is recommending changes in state law that he says will help identify non-citizens who attempt to register to vote. Pate proposes that his office get authority to ask other government agencies or pay private contractors to review voter registration records.
Pate says the proposal is related to the situation November’s election, when his office tried to get access to a federal database. He wanted to check whether hundreds of people who got an Iowa driver’s license when they were legal residents had become citizens at some point in the past 20 years.
Pate is asking the legislature to pass a law to make the process of recounting ballots uniform in every county. Pate offered similar recommendations after the recount in a congressional race in 2020, but he says major issues like tax cuts took center stage in the legislature.
Pate wants to allow more populous counties to have more people on recount boards. Under current law, each county’s recount board has three members — no matter how many ballots have to be counted. Pate also wants to require county auditors to start counting absentee ballots by 9 a.m. on Election Day.
Pate also wants wording in state law that makes it clear county auditors are legally required to notify his election office of any cybersecurity threats.
