Official: Vote forms with blank box valid

The Iowa attorney general resolves one election issue, but another is pending.

By JONATHAN ROOS
Des Moines REGISTER STAFF WRITER
October 21, 2004

A legal snag that could have prevented the processing of some voter registration applications in Iowa has been resolved.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller advised election officials Wednesday to accept registration forms if voters forgot to check a citizenship box but signed an affidavit certifying their eligibility to vote.

"I'm very pleased to hear it. What it means is that voters who made a mistake . . . will not be disenfranchised," said Pat Jensen, president of the League of Women Voters in Iowa.

Secretary of State Chet Culver also applauded the opinion. "In addition to offering a just and fair course of action, it affirms that common sense can prevail as we work to integrate Iowa law with the provisions of the federal Help America Vote Act," Culver said.

A separate opinion is expected from Miller yet this week on another voting issue that voting-rights groups say could disenfranchise thousands of Iowa voters: whether ballots cast in the correct county but wrong precinct should still be counted.

"We're pleased that the attorney general agreed with the claims of our group" concerning the citizenship check box, said Ben Stone, executive director of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union. "But we're anxiously awaiting what the A.G. has to say about the provisional ballot issue."

Provisional ballots are used when voters do not appear on voter registration rolls.

Voters-rights groups, including the civil liberties group and League of Women Voters, maintain it would be a violation of the federal Help America Vote Act and the U.S. Constitution to refuse to count ballots that were cast in the correct county but wrong precinct.

Jensen said a lawsuit by the voting-rights groups is still possible should Miller advise against acceptance of those ballots.

"Our goal is to have the process as open as possible so that Iowans can vote and their votes would be counted," Jensen said.

According to Culver, 23 states have said people's votes should count if they show up in the right county but wrong precinct, while other states have interpreted the issue differently.