DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa board has put on hold plans to require public workers in the state to preregister to vote in key union elections. The Public Employment Relations Board announced Tuesday it would not move ahead with proposed administrative rules that would have required a registration process before so-called recertification elections.

Board chairman Mike Cormack says officials received negative feedback about the idea. Representatives for several unions told lawmakers last week that such a system would suppress voter participation.

The board says its election vendor initially sought the changes. The board may seek a new vendor, which could increase costs. The Republican-controlled Legislature approved a bill last year that scaled back collective bargaining rights for most public workers. It required more frequent elections on whether public workers should stay unionized.