Statement on GOP Voter ID bill by Johnson County Auditor, Travis Weipert

Iowa’s election administrators are opposed to Secretary Of State Paul Pate’s Voter ID bill, which is an unnecessary solution to a nonexistent problem. The Iowa State Association of Auditors (ISACA) voted earlier this month to oppose the bill.

 Iowa Voters Are Already Identified – At Registration

 Every Iowan who registers to vote needs to provide  a correct name and date of birth, a valid ID number (Iowa license or Social Security), and a current, valid address. If the auditor’s office can’t verify a voter’s name, birthdate, and ID number against the license or Social Security database, the voter is on Pending status. If mail to the voter’s address is undeliverable, the voter is placed on Inactive status. Inactive and Pending voters must resolve these issues before they are allowed to vote.

  Voter “Fraud” Is Rare

 Just last week, Secretary of State Pate’s Office acknowledged they have “only been informed of 10 votes that were potentially improper out of nearly 1.6 million counted statewide in the November election.” None of these cases were a voter impersonating another voter, the only type of fraud an ID law could potentially stop. http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/12/iowa-aware-only-handful-improper-votes/97821298/

 Additional Voter Restrictions Are Being Considered

 Multiple bills restricting voter rights are under consideration by the legislature, including shorter periods to request absentee ballots (in Pate’s bill), an end to election day registration (HF 150), and a stricter, narrower ID proposal (SF 47). These items could easily be amended into the “Voter Integrity” bill, or passed along with it.

 Contact Auditor Travis Weipert for additional information and comment.