KDSN RADIO News
Two election-related bills clear Iowa House
The Iowa House has passed a bill that would give the secretary of state authority to hire a vendor to check for non-citizens on Iowa voter registration lists.
Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, cited the secretary of state’s recent announcement that 277 non-citizens were registered to vote in Iowa in 2024, and 35 of them cast ballots that were counted.
“Just one illegal vote is an attack on all of our votes,” Harris said. “To me, it threatens what it means to be an American and, as an American, we have a right to self determination through out elections and when we turn a blind eye and we let people who have not earned the right to vote to do that, that threatens all of our abilities to self determination.”
The bill, which passed on a party-line vote, does a number of other things. It would ban ranked-choice voting. It also would make it harder for a political party to gain “major party status” alongside Democrats and Republicans. Representative Adam Zabner (ZAB-ner), a Democrat from Iowa City, said while there are “needed solutions” in the bill, it also would make it harder for third-party candidates to run for office.
“It limits the options of Iowans, it boxes out competition,” Zabner said. “And it begs the question: ‘What is the majority party scared of?'”
The bill also would prohibit so-called “spoiler” candidates who lose in the primary election in June, then run in the General Election as an independent candidate or the nominee of another party.
The House approved another election-related bill about recounts. Under current law, people appointed by the candidates in close races oversee recounts. Under the bill, the campaigns could have observers, but county auditors and their staff would be in charge of conducting recounts.
“Creating a fair process to recount our elections and for our citizens, no matter their political party, to have faith and trust that despite a close election, the result is accurate,” Harris said.
The bill also sets new rules for when a candidate may seek a recount. The leading candidates in legislative races would have to be separated by 1% or less. The second-place candidate in a statewide or federal race would have to be within 0.15% of the leading candidate.
