Federal judge allows Iowa to challenge validity of ballots from potential noncitizens

A federal judge on Sunday ruled that Iowa may continue to challenge the validity of hundreds of ballots from possible noncitizens over objections from critics who warned that people who recently became U.S. citizens could be disenfranchised by the decision.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher, an appointee of President Biden, declined to stop Iowa from investigating and potentially removing more than 2,000 names from the state's voter registration rolls who were identified by Secretary of State Paul Pate's office as potentially ineligible to vote due to being noncitizens.

"Whatever concerns Plaintiffs might have about the nature and timing of Secretary Pate’s letter, it would not be appropriate for the Court to respond by granting injunctive relief that effectively
forces local election officials to allow ineligible voters to vote," the judge wrote.

Locher pointed to a recent Supreme Court decision where the justices allowed Virginia to continue a similar purge of its voter rolls, canceling more than 1,600 voter registrations the state claims are held by noncitizens ahead of Tuesday’s election.

He also noted another recent decision by the justices refusing to block Pennsylvanians whose mail ballots are voided for technical reasons from voting provisionally at their polling place on Election Day.

Through those cases, the Supreme Court “counsels the Court to act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief into how Iowa officials handle election issues.”

Republicans have drawn attention to noncitizen voting in a slew of lawsuits this election cycle, despite research showing it is a rare occurrence. Democrats see the strategy as an effort to create doubt about the legitimacy of the election.

The federal judge sided with Iowa in a lawsuit brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in the state’s capital, Des Moines, on behalf of four recently naturalized citizens and the League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa. The four individuals were on Iowa’s list of questionable registrations.

“We don’t want new U.S. citizens to be intimated,” said Joe Enriquez Henry, state political director of the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa, in a statement late Sunday. “Our message is: Make sure your vote counts on Election Day this Tuesday, November 5."

Henry urged voters to be prepared to show papers documenting their citizenship and vowed to continue fighting to “support your right as a U.S. citizen to be treated equally on Election Day.”

“Although we are disheartened by the judge’s decision to not grant an injunction, we are thankful for the lawsuit, which put pressure on Secretary Pate to acknowledge the right of naturalized citizens to vote in this election,” he said.

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) called the ruling a “victory for election integrity.”

“In Iowa, while we encourage all citizens to vote, we will enforce the law and ensure those votes aren’t cancelled out by the illegal vote of a non-citizen,” she said.