The Iowa House has passed a bill that would give the secretary of state authority to hire a vendor to check for non-citizens on Iowa voter registration lists. Representative Austin Harris, a Republican from Moulton, cites the recent announcement that 277 non-citizens were registered to vote in Iowa in 2024 — and 35 of them cast ballots that were counted.
The bill, which passed on a party-line vote, does a number of other things. It would ban ranked choice voting. It also would make it harder for a political party to gain “major party status” alongside Democrats and Republicans. Representative Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, says while there are needed solutions in the bill, it also would make it harder for third party candidates to run for office.
The bill also would prohibit so-called “spoiler” candidates who lose in the primary election in June, then run in the General Election as an independent candidate or the nominee of another party. The House approved another election-related bill — about recounts. Under current law, people appointed by the candidates in close races oversee recounts. Representative Austin Harris says under the bill, the campaigns could have observers — but county auditors and their staff would be in charge of conducting recounts.
The bill also sets new rules for when a candidate may seek a recount. The two leading candidates in legislative races would have to be separated by one percent. The second place candidates in a statewide or federal race would have to be within 0.15% of the leading candidate.
