WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — Prior to Tuesday's General Election, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced gave county auditors a list of noncitizen voters and directed poll workers to give people on that list a provisional ballot which would be counted later.
The race for Iowa Senate District 14 is very tight. With 99% of the votes counted, only 19 votes separate Democrat incumbent Sarah Trone Garriott and her Republican challenger Mark Hanson.
Trone Garriott sought information from the Dallas County Auditor's Office via email regarding the absentees that were part of the Secretary of State's citizenship challenge.
The email she received showed the precincts from her district along with the number of challenged absentee votes and those that have been cured, which is a process to fix mistakes made when voters cast their ballots.
With 21 challenged ballots and only two that have been cured, 19 remain on the line.
"It is absolutely horrifying to me that the Secretary of State has created a new category of challenge where none of the legal protections apply," Trone Garriott said. "If a ballot is challenged, if a voter is required to vote by a provisional ballot, that information can be made public, and so we can assist those people in rectifying the issue and making sure the vote is counted."
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The Dallas County Auditors Office confirmed the validity of the email and information within sent to Trone Garriott.
They also confirmed that any voters whose ballots were challenged should have received a letter stating just that.
Voters have until Tuesday, Nov. 12 at noon to bring their supporting documents to the auditor's office so their votes can be cured.
Though Trone Garriot is concerned that if these citizens don't know their vote has been challenged or frequently check their mail, they may not have an opportunity to prove their citizenship in time.
Local 5 reached out to Trone Garriott's opponent Mark Hanson on the issue, but he has yet to respond. Local 5 also contacted other county auditors regarding this issue.
The Webster County Auditor's Office shared they had two ballots challenged for noncitizen voting, though both people brought in the necessary paperwork to ensure their vote counted.
Local 5 will continue working to receive more clarification from the Secretary of State's Office and will update viewers as it becomes available.