(Radio Iowa) – The legislature has sent the governor a bill that will no longer give someone registering to vote on Election Day the option of having a relative, neighbor or friend confirm their identity. Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, says West Virginia is the only other state that with a voter I-D law that allows this option.
“I think we need to make sure that our elections are secure,” Harris said. “I think we need to protect the integrity of our elections and if someone doesn’t bring an ID to the polling location on Election Day, they can still vote by provisional ballot.” That voter is then required to go to the county auditor’s office and show an I-D in order for the provisional ballot to be counted.
Representative Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says most of the 37 Johnson County residents who had someone vouch for them in the 2024 General Election were elderly people who didn’t have a driver’s license or couldn’t find it. “I think it’s really important that every Iowan’s vote be heard in our elections. I have not heard of a single case of attestors being used for fraud or anything malignant,” Zabner said. “The attestors have to sign a legal affidavit and would be liable if anything on there that was wrong. I think this is a good system that has worked well in Iowa as a fail safe for folks who don’t have other forms of identification on Election Day.”
The bill also puts county auditors in charge of handling the nominating petitions that qualify candidates for city and school board elections. Representative Harris says that’s an important change. “Right now it’s possible for people to file that paperwork with either the city clerk or school board secretary,” Harris said. “Last year, there were roughly 20 different cities and school districts where the paperwork was not filed on time with the county auditor.”
Because the clerks and secretaries missed the deadline, the names of those candidates were not printed on November’s ballots, even though the candidates had collected enough petition signatures.
