Des Moines–Last week Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate released his “Election Integrity Act” which outlines his plans to spend millions of dollars on a virtually nonexistent issue. Pate is asking Iowa taxpayers to shell out up to a million dollars or more to implement new laws that will make it harder for the elderly and people with disabilities to vote. The backlash to Pate’s proposal was swift and widespread as Iowans and Iowa newspapers responded this week with harsh criticism and disdain for Pate’s proposal.

We elect our legislators and officials to act responsibly. Pate’s proposal is not only irresponsible, but he is using his position to make voting a partisan issue. His failure to include college IDs as an accepted form of identification is especially egregious. Many students in college are voting for the first time. Our state should encourage young voters to embrace their right to vote and not create more barriers. This type of legislation hits the elderly hard as many who are homebound or in nursing homes haven’t driven in years and their drivers’ licenses have long expired. Pate’s blatant abuse of power drew the ire of Iowans across the state, and we will keep fighting until this dangerous piece of legislation is finally put to bed.

Editorial: Pate’s voter ID law is downright indefensible
Quad-City Times
January 10, 2017

“Republican-run states throughout the country have employed fear of some nonexistent fraudulent voter to erect barriers to poll access. Court after court has called the various iterations little but racially targeted suppression, direct attacks on the Voting Rights Act. It’s hard to believe that Pate isn’t aware of this.”

Globe Gazette editorial: Voter ID overhaul unneeded
The Globe Gazette
January 12, 2017

That the issue immediately became partisan is predictable. But from a more commonsense standpoint, we do not see any pressing cause to spend $1 million or more to revamp a system that’s already working very well as evidenced by extremely low cases of voter fraud. Or as one North Iowa legislator told us, who would want to risk going to jail just to vote? No one we know.”

Our View: Voter ID proposal misses mark
The Daily Nonpareil
January 10, 2017

“While we understand the logic behind requesting ID at the polls, requiring it can’t be a means of suppressing voters. Accordingly, if the state is going to go down this path, the state will have provide a means for all Iowans, regardless of income, to be able to meet that requirement to cast a ballot.”

A thistle to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate
Des Moines Register
January 8, 2017

“This is not some benign effort to protect the integrity of the voting process; it’s a calculated attempt to disenfranchise a segment of the population that is legally entitled to vote.”

Letter: Convictions do not warrant voter ID
Sheila Dalton, West Branch
The Gazette
January 12, 2017

“Really, Paul Pate! You want to spend a million dollars for voter ID when we’ve had only 23 convictions in a 5-year period?”

Letter: Who will benefit from voter ID?
Carolyn Stucker, Springville
The Gazette
January 9, 2017

“It is the poor, the elderly, the student who will have a harder time voting. Contact your representative and demand that any new legislation would not disenfranchise any voter. The burden is with the state. It is foundational to democracy.”

Suggested voter ID law is unfair to elderly
Luke Spence, Nevada
Des Moines Register
January 9, 2017

“For example, many elderly do not possess a valid driver’s license or passport, and the ability to get one is either difficult or impossible due to physical or financial burdens. The same can be said for the disabled and the poor. While many of us have a valid ID, it is not a requirement to possess one.”

LETTER: ‘Sure glad this problem is being addressed …’
Jean Conover, Mapleton
Sioux City Journal
January 10, 2017

“I sure hope the GOP launches the photo ID law ASAP. I’m scared someone will vote illegally down here in Castana, Iowa. Oh, wait. The poll workers are all neighbors. We voters know each other by first name. There’s a coffee pot and fresh rolls at the table where you walk in. And I usually vote absentee anyway. Will someone come to my house and check my ID? Will I need to show my driver’s license to the lady up the road whom I’ve known for 40 some years? What about my mother and grandmother? They didn’t have driver’s licenses. Oh, right. It will only cost us about $500,000 to issue state IDs for people like them.”

 

Student Leaders Call Pate’s Voting Proposal “Unnecessary And Burdensome”
Rachel Zuckerman, University of Iowa
Cole Staudt, Iowa State University
Hunter Flesch, University of Northern Iowa

January 9, 2017

“This past election cycle, we worked hand-in-hand with the Secretary of State’s office to engage our peers in the electoral process by registering thousands of students and encouraging them to turn out to vote. Under Secretary Pate’s leadership, college student voter turnout became a priority in the state in 2016. Unfortunately, his newest initiative, an unnecessary voter identification requirement, would reverse the progress that we made among college students this past election cycle significantly.”

Letter: Voter fraud is not a problem in Iowa
Rex Clemmensen, Iowa City
The Gazette
January 10, 2017

“Iowa’s Secretary of State Paul Pate wants to spend $1 million to solve a problem that does not exist — voter fraud influencing Iowa elections. Pate admits that in the last election only one Iowan (a Republican who tried to vote twice) attempted voter fraud and she was caught. Pate also is not concerned that his proposal would make it harder to vote.”

Pate contradicts himself on voter ID law
Patricia Prijatel, Des Moines
Des Moines Register
January 12, 2017

“Now, with his party in power, Pate wants to spend $1 million to revamp the process he so strongly defended. This is a solution without a problem, an expensive and unproductive way for Pate to sail for a while on the prevailing political winds. He has already said there is no proof of problems, so why are we doing this other than to gain the GOP political advantage?”
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