IOWA
Is this heaven? No, it's a state full of internal conflict and active lawsuits seeking to curtail voter participation.
C+
Election Integrity Grade
Paul Pate (R)
Elected - In Office Since 2015
Population: 3,155,070
Budget Allocation For Elections: $3,515,285
Per Capita Investment In Elections: $1.11
In Iowa, elections are overseen by the Secretary of State, a directly elected state officer who serves a four-year term. The current Secretary of State is Republican Paul Pate; Pate defeated Deirdre DeJear (D) in 2018 to win re-election to a second term. Pate will be up for re-election in 2022. There are no term limits.
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Secretary Pate is, by all appearances, a dedicated public servant working in the best interests of Iowans. He served as the president of NASS until July of 2020. He supported universal mail-in ballot applications ahead of the state's primary in June, and has made necessary funds available at the local level.
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The state's Republicans legislators, on the other hand, reacted to the record-setting participation in June's primary by passing a reactionary and restrictive law that cracks down on mail-in ballot access. And the Trump campaign recently won a lawsuit that led to 50,000 absentee ballot applications being voided.
Statements on Voter Fraud
COVID-19 Preparedness
Support for Vote By Mail
Secretary Pate has voiced some frustration over the Trump campaign's baseless attacks on vote-by-mail. In his recent role as president of the NASS, he spoke up about the need for the process to remain non-partisan. (B+)
The Secretary of State's office in Iowa has disbursed over $2 million in CARES Act funds to local counties and precincts to provide for PPE, additional polling place supplies, disinfectants, and worker training programs. (B+)
Secretary Pate sent absentee applications to all registered voters ahead of June's primary election. He has embraced the need for mail-in voting. Republican state legislators, however, passed a restrictive law three days after the primary. (C)
Cyber Security
Iowa has provided $1 million in cybersecurity funding for county auditors to conduct readiness assessments ahead of November. The post-election audit process, however, lags behind accepted best practices. (C)
State Politics
Despite the Secretary of State's best efforts to expand the franchise and administer a successful election in November, state-level Republicans and the Trump campaign have obstructed at every turn. Iowa's partisans could cause trouble. (C-)
State History
Iowa was one of 21 states targeted by hackers in the 2016 elections. It was also the site of the disastrous Democratic caucuses in January. It has a history as a swing state, and partisan lawsuits have already been filed to limit voters' options. (C)
KEY PUBLIC STATEMENTS
Lawsuit​
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Iowa Democratic Party
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There have been no reported incidents of fraud associated with these mailings or even allegations of fraud. In fact, these mailings have never been a point of litigation, controversy or public debate in prior years.
Paul Pate​
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Secretary of State
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The frustration for many of us in my role as the NASS president is I would prefer the politicians leave the debate on us voting by mail.
It doesn’t help when I have some of the politics that’s going on.
Roxanna Moritz
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President,
Iowa Assoc. of County Auditors
County auditors, as local commissioners of elections, are baffled by this (Republican efforts to limit mail-in voting). The 2020 primary was very successful, based on a variety of metrics, largely due to the steps taken by the secretary.