(Radio Iowa) – The Iowa House has passed an election bill that will no longer give someone registering to vote on Election Day the option of having a friend, neighbor or relative sign a document to confirm the prospective voter is who they say they are. Representative Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says during the 2024 election, 37 Johnson County residents used this option in order to register and vote on Election Day.

“Most of those Iowans were older Iowans, elderly folks who had lost their driver’s license or their ability to drive and didn’t have the proper ID and it was family members and caretakers who were attesting for them,” Zabner said. And he says no longer allowing this option will make is harder for some Iowans to vote. Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, says West Virginia is the only other state that allows someone to attest to a potential voter’s identity.

“If someone doesn’t bring an acceptable ID to the polling location on Election Day, they can still vote by provision ballot and then have that cured afterwards. We still allow for that,” Harris said. “In fact, that’s what happens most of the time when people don’t have their I.D.” Someone who casts a provisional ballot on Election Day has to go to their county auditor’s office within a few days with a valid I-D and proof of their address or the ballot will not be counted.

Other elements of the House bill clarify when there may be recounts in school bonding elections and it puts county auditors in charge of handling the nominating petitions that qualify candidates for city and school board elections. Last year, city clerks and school board secretaries failed to file that paperwork on time and three dozen candidates did not get their names printed on ballots.