Federal Judge Rules Iowa Poll Workers Can Challenge 2,000 Voters On Noncitizen List
A federal judge has ruled that Iowa poll workers may proceed with challenging the ballots of over 2,000 Iowans flagged on a potentially flawed list of noncitizens. This decision denies a request to allow those voters to cast regular ballots, instead requiring them to use provisional ballots if challenged.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, instructed county auditors on October 22 to challenge the ballots of 2,176 registered voters who had informed the Iowa Department of Transportation that they were not U.S. citizens, according to the Des Moines Register. Voters whose ballots are challenged must provide proof of citizenship by November 12 for their provisional ballots to be counted.
A group of naturalized citizens and the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa filed a lawsuit, arguing that Pate’s directive disproportionately burdens naturalized citizens, who are eligible to vote but are forced to undergo additional verification steps because they obtained driver’s licenses before becoming citizens.
U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, a former federal prosecutor appointed by President Biden, noted that both parties agreed some individuals on the list are indeed noncitizens, though this group appears to be a small portion—no more than 12%. However, Locher stated, “the injunctive relief requested by plaintiffs effectively would force local election officials to permit those individuals to vote.” He explained, “Whatever concerns plaintiffs might have about the nature and timing of Secretary Pate’s letter, it would not be appropriate for the court to respond by granting injunctive relief that effectively forces local election officials to allow ineligible voters to vote.”
As the Des Moines Register highlighted, it is a felony for noncitizens to vote in Iowa. Pate welcomed the ruling as “a win for Iowa’s election integrity.” He emphasized the importance of ensuring that “only eligible voters participate in Iowa elections,” while also allowing all eligible citizens to vote. “Both of these are critical components to Iowa election integrity,” he stated.
Judge Locher referenced recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings on voter rolls and provisional ballots, suggesting that federal courts should exercise caution in granting last-minute injunctions that impact election procedures. In Virginia, for instance, the Supreme Court allowed officials to remove 1,600 voters from rolls after finding discrepancies in voter registration records, despite a lawsuit from the Biden-Harris Justice Department seeking to prevent the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls.
Locher described the Virginia case as “a more aggressive version of what Secretary Pate is doing here,” noting that Pate has not ordered anyone’s removal from Iowa’s voter rolls.
Locher concluded that granting an injunction would disregard how the Supreme Court handled similar cases with “even stronger legal arguments than plaintiffs have here,” a step he could not take.
Although Pate originally instructed county auditors to challenge all individuals on the list, he later clarified that voters who can prove their citizenship or have their citizenship verified by auditors may cast regular ballots. “The auditor has the latitude,” he stated. “If they know the answer already, then there’s no point in challenging.”