The Democrat running against Iowa’s top election official says Republican Paul Pate — Iowa’s Secretary of State — shouldn’t have turned over voter registration lists to the federal government. In the spring of 2025, the U-S Department of Justice asked states for the driver’s license numbers and partial Social Security numbers of registered voters and Pate says he complied with the order this year after consulting the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and his own attorneys. Ryan Peterman, the Democrat challenging Pate’s re-election bid, says Pate should have protected the personal data of Iowa voters.
Pate says he didn’t just turn over the list and insisted on some guidelines for what the Justice Department may use Iowa’s voter registration data for.
Both Pate and Peterman made their comments at the State Fair during separate appearances on the Des Moines Register’s Political Soapbox.
