KDSN RADIO News
Pate: public expects issue of alleged non-citizen voters to be addressed
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says he was recently told the DOT might have information about registered Iowa voters who may not be U.S. citizens — and his staff conducted a manual review of the data before it was released last week.
Pate sent the list to county auditors and directed election workers to ask people on the list for proof of citizenship before their votes may be counted.
“The public expects us to address the issue because we’ve had so much pressure put on the elections process across the country about not only non-citizens but on anything that’s not got full transparency in an election,” Pate said earlier today, “and this is the closest we could come to providing that transparency at this time.”
Pate hosted a news conference at Iowa National Guard headquarters to highlight election security efforts at the state and national level, then he discussed the list released last week to county auditors. Pate said he consulted with attorneys about the move and believes it would survive a legal challenge since none of the names of potential non-citizens have been removed from the voter registration list — giving those who have become U.S. citizens in the past couple of decades the opportunity to vote.
“The role of Iowa’s commissioner of elections requires balance,” Pate said. “On one end, it’s absolutely critical that every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot and make their voices heard. On the other end, we are required to follow state and federal law and ensure that only eligible voters participate.”
Earlier today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Virginia may cull alleged non-citizens from that state’s voting lists. After an appearance early this morning, Governor Kim Reynolds told reporters she asked Pate “a while back” about the issue. “I was hearing other states were looking into it,” Reynolds said. “…I was curious how that was playing out and what we were doing.”
Reynolds said the problem is Pate’s office has not been able to check the federal government’s so-called SAVE database that provides information about a person’s immigration status. “Some states have it, but not all states have access to it,” Reynolds said. “…If we had access to the SAVE file, then our election commissioner, the secretary of state, could verify if they are a citizen or not, but they refuse to give us access to that.”
Pate, a few hours later, told reporters this situation is frustrating. “We’ve repeatedly put requests out to the folks in Washington, D.C. to have a complete list of folks who are legally here and are non-citizens,” Pate said. “To this date, they have not been cooperative in giving us that list.”
Joe Henry, Iowa political director for the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), said Pate’s list is an effort to intimidate Latino voters in Iowa. “He waited ’til the 11th hour to do this,” Henry said during an interview.
Henry’s organization was denied a copy of the list of people whose citizenship may be challenged if they show up to vote. “To make sure that if there is concern here that they will have their naturalization papers with them. If they do that, they’ll be fine,” Henry said. “We could have helped.”
The league is now encouraging Latino voters in Iowa to cast their ballots as soon as possible, so if they are challenged, they’ll have plenty of time to prove to election officials that they are U.S. citizens.
Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird issued a written statement this afternoon, accusing the U.S. Justice Department of “trying to pressure Iowa into…letting noncitizens vote.” Bird said the agency had contacted “the state,” but she did not offer other details about the discussion.
