Des Moines, Iowa (RI) — The Iowa DOT has used the same software vendor that mistakenly added over six thousand non-citizens to New Jersey’s voter rolls. However, Iowa does NOT have a law like New Jersey’s that gives people the option of registering to vote when they get a New Jersey driver’s license. Governor Reynolds says Iowa has safe, secure elections.
The non-citizens in New Jersey had marked themselves as ineligible to vote when they applied for a New Jersey driver’s license, but the software vendor added them to the voter rolls anyway, and about 400 of them voted in 2023 and 2024. Reynolds suggests the New Jersey episode could prompt Congress to act.
Iowa has required voters to present a photo ID before casting ballots since 2017, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate — the state’s top election official — says Iowa is not impacted by the software problems cited in New Jersey. IDEMIA is the software company New Jersey’s Motor Vehicles Commission has used — and New Jersey officials are looking for another vendor. The Iowa DOT has used the company for the digital version of an Iowa driver’s license that may be used as a Mobile ID to get through airport security or verify someone’s old enough to buy alcohol or cigarettes.
