The Iowa Secretary of State determines that non-citizens have voted or are registered to vote

DES MOINES, Iowa (KCRG) – A review of Iowa's voter registration list found more than 2,000 people said they were not citizens but had voted or registered to vote.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate released a statement Tuesday saying the names of these individuals will be turned over to the Iowa Attorney General and the Department of Public Safety for possible prosecution.

County auditors will also assign poll workers to challenge those people's ballots.

“We have encountered obstacles from the federal government, as well as states across the country that are embroiled in lawsuits with the Justice Department and federal agencies,” Pate said in the statement. “We will work with both our attorney general and Iowa’s congressional delegation to ensure that the federal government gives us the tools to have certainty before a non-citizen registers and votes in Iowa’s election “Instead of identifying non-citizens after they vote, we will work with the Iowa Legislature to strengthen our laws.”

TV9 has reached out to Minister Pate's office for further details on this audit, but we have not yet received a response.

Leaders of the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC Iowa) in Iowa subsequently released a statement questioning the timing and motivation of Pate's audit, as well as the methods by which it was conducted.

“The Secretary of State already has safeguards in place to screen individuals before they are approved and given a voter registration card,” Joe Henry, LULAC Iowa political director, said in a statement. “Pate’s office should share what methods they are using in this review process to identify vulnerabilities if he truly believes that 2,100 non-citizens were caught attempting to circumvent our election laws.”

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.