Biden Appointee Judge Upholds Iowa’s Crackdown on Questionable Registrations to Protect Election Integrity

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher ruled in favor of Iowa’s initiative to scrutinize voter registrations flagged as potentially non-citizen.

This ruling, delivered Sunday, permits Iowa officials to continue investigating and challenging the validity of ballots cast by individuals on the state’s “questionable registrations” list—a measure aimed at ensuring illegal votes don’t dilute the voice of lawful citizens.

Judge Locher, appointed by Joe Biden, dismissed arguments from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) that the voter registration review threatens newly naturalized citizens’ voting rights, according to AP.

Instead, the judge underscored Iowa’s obligation to preserve the integrity of its electoral process, particularly following a U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing similar voter roll clean-ups in Virginia.

AP reported:

The state’s Republican attorney general and secretary of state argued that investigating and potentially removing 2,000 names would prevent illegal voting by noncitizens. GOP officials across the U.S. have made possible voting by noncitizen immigrants a key election-year talking point even though it is rare. Their focus has come with former President Donald Trump falsely suggesting that his opponents already are committing fraud to prevent his return to the White House.

In his ruling Sunday, Locher pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision four days prior that allowed Virginia to resume a similar purge of its voter registration rolls even though it was impacting some U.S. citizens. He also cited the Supreme Court’s recent refusal to review a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision on state electoral laws surrounding provisional ballots. Those Supreme Court decisions advise lower courts to “act with great caution before awarding last-minute injunctive relief,” he wrote.

Locher also said the state’s effort does not remove anyone from the voter rolls, but rather requires some voters to use provisional ballots.

Republican Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds lauded the ruling, stating, “A U.S. district judge just denied an attempt to block [Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate]
challenge of non-citizen registered voters – a win for election integrity! We encourage all citizens to vote, and we will enforce the law to ensure those votes aren’t cancelled out by illegal votes from non-citizens.”

A U.S. district judge just denied an attempt to block @IowaSOS challenge of non-citizen registered voters – a win for election integrity!

We encourage all citizens to vote, and we will enforce the law to ensure those votes aren’t cancelled out by illegal votes from non-citizens.

— Gov. Kim Reynolds (@IAGovernor) November 3, 2024

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate also released a statement:

Today’s ruling from the Federal District Court is a win for low’s election integrity. U.S. elections are for U.S. citizens, and ensuring only eligible voters participate in lowa’s election process is essential to protecting the integrity of the vote. The role of lowa Secretary of State requires balance – ensuring that on one hand, every eligible voter is able to cast their ballot while also ensuring that only eligible voters participate in lowa elections. Both of these are critical components to lowa election integrity.

We applaud the district court for this decision. As stated in the official ruling, it is undisputed that there are a number of noncitizens who are registered to vote, and awarding the injunction would force local election officials to permit those individuals to vote.

We continue to seek clarity on the citizenship status of the individuals who have self-reported as noncitizens, and once again urge the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services office in DC to permit the lowa field office to release this clarifying information to us which is critical to ensuring only U.S. citizens vote in our elections.

Today’s ruling from the federal district court is a win for Iowa’s election integrity. pic.twitter.com/zLlAPAKSCH

— Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate (@IowaSOS) November 3, 2024

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