Voting precinct for the June 4, 2024 primary at McCreary Community Building in Perry. (Photo by Brooklyn Draisey)
The League of United Latin American Citizens is seeking the Iowa Secretary of State’s office’s list of 2,022 voters identified as potential noncitizens, hoping to provide resources to these voters who will be required to cast provisional ballots in the 2024 election.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a statement Tuesday that an audit by his office identified 87 noncitizens who voted in the state’s elections over the past 12 years, in addition to another 67 noncitizens who are registered voters but did not vote.
The office also identified a list of 2,022 people who had told the Iowa Department of Transportation that they were noncitizens and later went on to vote or register to vote.
Joe Henry, LULAC’s Iowa political director, said the organization has requested the list of these voters but had not heard back as of Thursday. He also criticized the Secretary of State’s statement on the subject of noncitizens voting in Iowa, saying that the release has made immigrants who are naturalized U.S. citizens and eligible to vote less likely to participate in the election for fear of criminal charges.
“They’re now second guessing themselves, going, ‘well, am I really eligible now to vote? I remember signing something. I’m a new citizen, but, but will I get in trouble?’” Henry said.
Voting or registering to vote as a noncitizen in Iowa is a class D felony charge, punishable by up to five years in prison and maximum fines of $7,500.
The office also identified a list of 2,022 people who had told the Iowa Department of Transportation that they were noncitizens and later went on to vote or register to vote. Though these individuals self-identified as noncitizens to the Iowa DOT while conducting business like obtaining or renewing a driver’s license, that status may have changed by the time they registered to vote or voted, the Secretary of State’s office said.
Individuals in the group of more than 2,000 flagged by the Secretary of State may have since been naturalized as U.S. citizens but not reported this update to the Iowa DOT, meaning they are eligible to vote. However, these voters will still be required to cast provisional ballots if they participate in the 2024 general election.
Votes cast by provisional ballots are not counted until the absentee and special voters’ precinct board reviews a voter’s registration record and evidence provided by the voter showing their eligibility.
Pate said in the news release that the names of the 154 people who voted or registered to vote when they were not U.S. citizens has been given to the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Iowa Department of Public Safety for potential prosecution. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird, a Republican, recently charged a Marshalltown resident — who legally resides in the U.S. but is not a citizen — with allegedly illegally voting in a July special election for the Marshalltown City Council.
Pate said the office is working with other state and local officials to “ensure that those who break the law are prosecuted to the fullest extent.”
Noncitizen voting has become a major talking point leading into the 2024 general election, with former President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders saying that Democrats are encouraging immigrants who recently came to the U.S. to illegally vote in the country’s elections. But Henry said that noncitizen voting is “very minimal” in Iowa, and that many of these situations come down to “simple mistakes.”
Pate made a similar comment on Iowa Press in September, saying that “I don’t think we see a lot of (noncitizen voting) at this time in Iowa.”
The Secretary of State’s office stated it plans to send out lists of the 2,022 “potential” noncitizen voters’ individuals’ names to county auditors. Lists will also go to precincts where some of the individuals may vote. Poll workers will then be expected to challenge the ballots of the listed people if they come into vote.
Henry said he has spoken with the Polk County Auditor’s office for information on the lists, but that the office had not received it as of Wednesday. He said LULAC is concerned that this process could cause problems for other Latino U.S. citizens who can legally vote if the lists only contain the individuals’ names, and not other information like addresses or Social Security numbers.
“Just as there are many John Smiths in in the English world, there are many Jose Gonzalezes, there are many Enriques,” Henry said. “There are just many, many people with similar names. So again, we don’t know what type of list he is using, what type of verification, and this goes beyond the 2,022 — anyone with a similar name may be held hostage by this.”
The organization is seeking the list of names in order to provide information to affected voters about what documents and identification is needed in the provisional ballot process, as well as to reassure individuals listed on their legal right to vote as U.S. citizens.
Ashley Hunt Esquivel, communications director for the Secretary of State’s office, said no one has been removed from Iowa voter rolls in the process of reviewing citizenship records, and that the office is seeking more information on how to address and identify current noncitizens who are illegally registered to vote or have voted. However, these efforts may not begin until after the Nov. 5 general election, she said.
Henry said that since Tuesday, he and others in LULAC have been receiving calls from new U.S. citizens “who are somewhat afraid to vote, thinking that they might be charged with a crime.” He encouraged Iowans with these concerns or questions about their voting eligibility to contact the organization.