IOWA, USA — An audit of Iowa's voter registration records is raising questions and potential legal challenges from a civil rights group in the state.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said Tuesday his office identified in an audit alleged noncitizens who voted in past elections or registered to vote. News 8 reached out asking how many years of election data the audit spans, but as of 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 23, have not heard back.
Pate said his office received 2.3 million voter records as part of a regular audit. It found 87 people who voted in past elections later "self-reported they are not citizens" to the Iowa Department of Transportation. Another 67 people self-reported they are not citizens after they registered to vote, but have not voted.
A noncitizen in this case is someone who's not a U.S. citizen but is in the country legally.
Those names were sent to the Iowa Attorney General and the Iowa Department of Public Safety for potential criminal prosecution, Pate said in a press release. Iowa law says illegally voting is punishable by up to five years in prison.
Pate's office also flagged 2,022 people who told the IDOT they were not citizens and later voted or registered to vote. His office said their citizenship status is unclear.
“I have directed county auditors to have their poll workers challenge the ballots of any of these individuals during the 2024 general election,” Pate said. “All these individuals will be able to vote by casting a provisional ballot.”
A provisional ballot is not immediately counted. The voter has until noon on Nov. 12 to provide proof of citizenship to their county auditor for the vote to count.
"They used a process where they reviewed driver's licenses that may have indicated that when the person had gotten their driver's license, they may have been a noncitizen," Joe Henry, state political director for LULAC Iowa said. "But during that two year time or whatever, they could have possibly become a U.S. citizen... And what's important to note is that when people make it through the naturalization process, they're encouraged to register to vote."
LULAC wants clarity on how and when the audit was conducted. Henry is concerned the alleged self-reported noncitizens may not have fully understood if they were asked questions about their status, especially if English is not their first language.
"Due to the politics of this election, immigration has become a hot issue and we see that being thrown around here in the state of Iowa, and now it's becoming part of a press release from the secretary of state," he said. "This should not happen in this state."
He's also concerned people are being flagged to use provisional ballots who are legally allowed to vote.
"They could verify (their citizenship status) immediately, because every vote matters, but by being vague, clearly they have either not done their homework, or they have made this a political move and that's what we're concerned about," Henry said. "This is not rocket science to determine whether or not a person is eligible to vote. You can get on the phone. You can check with people. You can look at their social security number. You can verify this with the Department of Transportation and the State Revenue Department."
LULAC is asking Pate's office to release the names of people who were flagged to cast a provisional ballot so the group and its lawyers can help them understand their rights.
The Muscatine County auditor tells News 8 as of Wednesday afternoon, her office has not received a directive or list of people from Paul Pate.
News 8 also has not received a directive or list from Paul Pate as of Wednesday evening.
Pate said he wants access to more federal records and potential law changes to make it easier for his office to verify all registered voters are U.S. citizens.
"It is absolutely critical that eligible citizens are able to vote and we are not disenfranchising any eligible voters," he said in a press release.