Sample ballots were placed out for voters to view for the 2024 primary election at the polling located located at Valley United Methodist Church in West Des Moines June 4, 2024. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
At least some Iowa county auditors have received lists from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office on voters who will be required to cast provisional ballots in the 2024 election because they have been identified as potential noncitizens.
Woodbury County Auditor Patrick Gill said his office has received a list from the Secretary of State’s office on 123 potential noncitizen voters in their jurisdiction, and Linn County Auditor Joel Miller said that his office received a list of with 150 names.
The people identified on this list are individuals who had self-identified as noncitizens to the Iowa Department of Transportation in the past 12 years, and have since registered to vote or voted. There are a total of 2,022 people in this category in the state, according to a Tuesday statement from Secretary of State Paul Pate, in addition to 87 people who voted and 67 people who registered to vote that later identified themselves as noncitizens to the DOT.
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The 2,022 people listed as potentially noncitizens may have become naturalized citizens — making them eligible to vote — since they reported their status to the DOT. However, because their citizenship status is unconfirmed, Pate said his office is directing county auditors and poll workers at voting precincts to challenge these people’s ballots, having the individuals cast provisional ballots if they vote in the 2024 election.
Provisional ballots are cast by voters whose qualifications have been challenged, and people who cannot prove they are qualified to vote on Election Day. After casting a provisional ballot, the absentee and special voters’ precinct board will review the voter’s registration record and associated evidence and make a decision on whether the ballot can be counted.
Voters who cast provisional ballots are able to provide information to the board proving their eligibility to vote.
Gill said voters on this list will have the opportunity to cast a regular ballot if they bring proof of their citizenship, like their Certificate of Naturalization from U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, to their polling location.
“At that point, if they would have naturalization papers, I would imagine that the precinct election official … would withdraw the challenge and allow that person to vote in the normal fashion,” Gill said.
However, voters on the list will likely not know whether they have been flagged as a potential noncitizen and are required to present proof of their citizenship until they try to vote. Gill said he is not able to provide information on the identities of the individuals listed, or whether other information about these voters was included in the data provided by the Secretary of State’s office.
Miller, who ran against Pate for the Iowa Secretary of State seat in the 2022 midterm election, said that Pate’s office stated they were not sending out letters to the voters identified as potential noncitizens — something he believes the state office should have done when compiling this information. While there was not a directive against county auditors contacting the voters listed, he said there are significant barriers to sending the letters — including a process of vetting the letters to make sure they are legal and ensuring they are uniform with other counties.
“In other words, if the Polk County auditor sending out a letter, my letter should look the same, shouldn’t it?” Miller said. “Again, why didn’t (Pate) do it on a statewide basis?”
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) is seeking the list of potential noncitizens in an effort to inform these voters about their place on this list, and to provide resources on how they can legally participate in the election as naturalized citizens.
Joe Henry, LULAC’s Iowa political director, said the organization has not yet received the list from the Secretary of State. In addition to providing support for the voters impacted, Henry criticized Pate, saying the statement and provisional ballot process will make immigrants who are legally able to vote less likely to participate in the election.
Voting as a noncitizen is a class D felony in Iowa under first-degree election misconduct charges. The crime can be punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of $750 to $7,500. However, Henry said that in many of these circumstances, people who have since gained U.S. citizenship may incorrectly believe they could still be subject to these criminal charges.
“There will be people who will not vote now, just because they hear that it could be a crime — that’s all they’re hearing,” Henry said. “… For some of these people, they might think, ‘Well, I was a noncitizen at one point. So therefore, even if I am a citizen now, I’m probably not eligible.’ They don’t know.”
While much of the national discussion around noncitizen voting centers around former President Donald Trump and other Republicans talking about recent immigrants from Latin America, Miller said that immigrants from all communities are impacted by this notice.
Pate’s announcement came Oct. 22 — several days after early voting began in the state on Oct. 16. Some of the individuals identified as potential noncitizens by the Secretary of State’s office may have already participated in the 2024 general election through absentee or early voting and cast regular ballots.
In these situations, Gill said these ballots would likely be challenged by a precinct election official during the absentee board review process.
“We would challenge it, it would go through the same procedure for challenging that ballot, and (the voter) would be notified and they would have the ability to prove whether or not they were a citizen,” Gill said. “And if we receive no response, I imagine we would turn that over to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation.”
Miller said he has began reviewing the list of potential noncitizen voters in Linn County and that he found three people who had voted early, and another individual who requested an absentee ballot. He contacted the Linn County sheriff, who contacted federal authorities to check these people’s citizenship status, Miller said, and all four voters were confirmed as U.S. citizens.
Gill said there were still questions remaining among county auditors about the processes surrounding voting for potential noncitizens. The Secretary of State’s office held a Zoom meeting with county auditors about the subject Thursday, but county auditors were not able to ask questions and were directed to their county attorney’s offices for more information. Gill said the Woodbury County Attorney’s office directed him to the state Attorney General’s Office.
Pate said his office is working with the state Attorney General’s office under Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, as well as with the the Iowa Department of Public Safety to “ensure that those who break the law are prosecuted to the fullest extent.” He said in the Tuesday statement that his office has shared identities of the 154 individuals who voted or registered to vote when they were not U.S. citizens with the AG’s office and Iowa DPS for potential prosecution.
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