Iowa Supreme Court upholds new law that could invalidate thousands of ballot requests
The Iowa Supreme Court has upheld a Republican-backed law barring auditors from fixing errors in absentee ballot applications on behalf of voters. In the 4-3 ruling, the court barred county auditors from correcting incomplete applications based on state voter databases. While auditors were permitted to make the changes before the new law, they will now be required to send them back to applicants to correct.
“We are not persuaded the statute imposes a significant burden on absentee voters. It is not a direct burden on voting itself,” the four justices wrote. They wrote that only about 13,000 absentee ballot requests out of over 842,000 had not been fulfilled as of Friday.
In their dissent, the minority wrote that the law would “likely cause thousands of voters to not receive their ballot in time to use it.”
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — A split Iowa Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a new Republican-backed law that could bar county elections commissioners from mailing absentee ballots to thousands of people who omitted information on their applications.
The 4-3 ruling means that voters who want to cast mail-in ballots in the Nov. 3 election must complete their absentee ballot applications before Saturday’s deadline in order to qualify.
Auditors will not be allowed to use the state’s voter registration system to fix any deficient applications, as they have done in prior elections. Voters must do so themselves.
Those affected would still be able to vote on Election Day.
The ruling marks another legal victory for Republicans and President Trump’s reelection campaign in Iowa, where his race against Democrat Joe Biden and a key Senate contest are expected to be close.
The Supreme Court agreed last week to review the decision. On the same day, the court upheld a directive from Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, that invalidated tens of thousands of absentee ballot applications that had been sent to voters in three counties with their identification information already filled in.
In the majority opinion Wednesday, four justices agreed with Republicans that the law was a way to “protect the integrity and security of the absentee ballot system” by requiring requesters to provide information verifying their identities.
“We are not persuaded the statute imposes a significant burden on absentee voters. It is not a direct burden on voting itself,” wrote the majority, which included Justices Edward Mansfield, Thomas Waterman, Christopher McDonald and Matthew McDermott.
They argued that the rate of absentee ballot requests that have not been fulfilled by county auditors is “extremely low,” about 13,000 statewide as of Friday out of more than 842,000 requests. Most of those unfilled are in Johnson and Woodbury counties, two of the three that had to invalidate pre-filled requests mailed to registered voters.
As of Wednesday, more than 600,000 people had returned absentee ballots through the mail or in person for the election. Oxley said county auditors have kept up with requests for ballots but could be overwhelmed in coming days.