Iowa voter roll challenge/ naturalized citizens voting rights/ election integrity/ Federal judge ruling/ noncitizen voter scrutiny/ Newslooks/ DES MOINES/ Iowa/ J. Mansour/ Morning Edition/ A federal judge has permitted Iowa to continue challenging voter registrations of potential noncitizens, a decision affecting naturalized citizens. Iowa’s Secretary of State argues the review safeguards election integrity, though critics contend it risks disenfranchising legitimate voters. Voters flagged as noncitizens may need to cast provisional ballots and confirm citizenship to ensure their votes count.
Iowa Voter Roll Challenge: Quick Looks
- Federal Judge Ruling: Iowa can continue scrutinizing voter rolls to challenge noncitizen registrations, affecting some naturalized citizens.
- State’s Argument: Officials claim the review prevents noncitizen voting; flagged voters may need to cast provisional ballots.
- Impact on New Citizens: The ACLU argues naturalized citizens are unfairly targeted, risking their right to vote.
- Legal Context: The judge cited recent Supreme Court rulings, supporting caution in awarding last-minute injunctions.
- Naturalization Path: Citizenship is achieved via naturalization, involving residency and a citizenship test.
Iowa Judge Allows Voter Roll Challenge, Affects Naturalized Citizens
Deep Look
In a recent decision with potentially far-reaching implications, a federal judge ruled that Iowa may proceed with a controversial plan to challenge the voter registrations of individuals flagged as potential noncitizens, despite concerns that the effort could disenfranchise newly naturalized U.S. citizens. U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher sided with Iowa’s Republican leadership, permitting them to pursue a review of voter rolls, a process that could impact hundreds of voters. This ruling comes amidst heightened legal disputes nationwide over voter eligibility and election integrity as Election Day approaches.
The case stems from a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa and four recently naturalized U.S. citizens. These plaintiffs were among the nearly 2,000 people Iowa had flagged as potentially ineligible to vote. The state argues this review is a critical measure to protect the integrity of elections by preventing illegal voting. Iowa’s Secretary of State Paul Pate and Attorney General Brenna Bird, both Republicans, claim that addressing noncitizen registrations safeguards legitimate votes from being canceled out.
Judge Locher’s decision on Sunday pointed to recent Supreme Court rulings that have generally favored limited intervention on election-related cases close to voting day, highlighting the importance of exercising “great caution” before awarding last-minute injunctions. He referenced the Supreme Court’s allowance of a similar voter purge in Virginia, as well as its recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania case involving provisional ballots. Locher emphasized that the Iowa process will not immediately remove voters from the rolls; instead, voters flagged as potential noncitizens may be required to cast provisional ballots, with their eligibility confirmed post-election.
Following the ruling, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds called the decision a “victory for election integrity,” affirming the state’s commitment to prevent unlawful voting. The ACLU, however, argues that the measure unfairly targets naturalized citizens, most of whom have valid citizenship but may be mistakenly flagged due to outdated records. According to ACLU attorney Rita Bettis Austen, the list is largely composed of legitimate citizens who have the same rights as any other voter.
The ACLU’s concerns stem from Iowa’s methodology. The flagged list primarily comes from the Iowa Department of Transportation, which identified individuals who registered to vote after declaring noncitizen status when applying for driver’s licenses. Iowa’s election authorities say they have been unable to access more current federal data that could help differentiate between noncitizens and recent citizens. This forced reliance on older data has resulted in the inclusion of many naturalized citizens, according to the ACLU, who argue this risks discouraging eligible voters from participating.
Iowa’s strategy requires voters on this flagged list to cast provisional ballots if challenged. These ballots are set aside and only counted once voters verify their U.S. citizenship. County officials are tasked with reviewing documentation within seven days after the election, during which time flagged voters can provide proof of citizenship. Iowa’s approach has raised concerns because of its timing—Secretary Pate issued his directive on October 22, less than two weeks before the election, a move that the ACLU argues may violate federal law’s restrictions on voter roll changes close to an election.
The ruling also highlights ongoing nationwide disputes between Republican and Democratic officials over election regulations. In recent years, GOP officials have pushed to tighten voter registration processes, often citing concerns over noncitizen voting, despite studies indicating such cases are rare. Former President Donald Trump and other prominent Republicans have intensified these concerns, promoting stricter scrutiny of voter eligibility, while Democrats argue that such measures primarily deter legitimate voters, especially among minority and immigrant populations.
Judge Locher’s ruling follows a similar case in Alabama, where a federal judge halted a program targeting noncitizens due to evidence that most flagged voters were, in fact, eligible citizens. Testimony in that case revealed that over 2,000 individuals wrongly flagged as noncitizens had lawful registration. Although noncitizens are a small fraction of Iowa’s 2.2 million registered voters, the uncertainty surrounding eligibility underscores the challenges inherent in such reviews.
In Iowa, individuals become citizens through the naturalization process, which involves establishing residency, passing a U.S. civics test, and taking an oath of allegiance. Despite this path to citizenship, naturalized citizens are often disproportionately affected by challenges to voter registration lists. For these new citizens, who are frequently listed due to bureaucratic records rather than actual ineligibility, the voting process now entails additional hurdles to ensure their ballots are counted.
As the ACLU and Iowa’s leadership prepare for potential further litigation, this ruling illustrates the broader legal battle over voting rights and the tension between securing elections and ensuring full access for eligible voters. For now, naturalized citizens in Iowa on the flagged list face the prospect of provisional voting, with their participation in the democratic process contingent on overcoming bureaucratic challenges designed to enforce election laws more stringently.
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