The Iowa DOT has used the same software vendor that mistakenly added over 6000 non-citizens to New Jersey’s voter rolls. However, Iowa does not have a law like New Jersey’s that gives people the option of registering to vote when they get a New Jersey driver’s license.
“We really have taken every step to make sure that our elections are safe, but we should never stop looking,” Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, a Republican, told reporters on Wednesday. “We should also be making sure that we’re taking a look at every aspect of the process so that Iowans feel confident when they cast their vote that it’s going to be cast and it’s going to be counted in the manner that they wanted it to.”
The non-citizens in New Jersey had marked themselves as ineligible to vote when they applied for a New Jersey drivers license, but the software vendor added them to the voter rolls anyway and about 400 of them voted in 2023 and 2024. Reynolds, who described the software failure as a “glitch,” suggested the New Jersey episode could prompt congress to act. “This is a wake up call. I think that’s why they should pass the SAVE America Act that President Trump is trying to get across the finish line,” Reynolds said, periodically clapping her hands to emphasize her point as she spoke. “For heaven’s sakes, it’s not a partisan thing. If you look at the percentage of Democrats and Republicans that support actually showing a photo ID. That would have been one more fail stop that would have been in place for them to check.”
Iowa has required voters to present a photo ID before casting ballots since 2017.
IDEMIA is the software company New Jersey’s Motor Vehicles Commission has used and New Jersey officials are looking for another vendor. The Iowa DOT has used the company for the digital version of an Iowa driver’s license that may be used as a Mobile ID to get through airport security or verify someone’s old enough to buy alcohol or cigarettes.
New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherill, a Democrat, said during a news conference on Tuesday that IDEMIA’s “glaring error’ was “unacceptable,” but she said there’s no evidence at this time that New Jersey election results were swayed by the non-citzens who voted.
Paul Pate, Iowa’s Secretary of State and the state’s top election official, released a written statement late this afternoon. “Iowa has long been recognized as a top-ranking state for election security and administration. We have no reason to believe that Iowa is experiencing similar incidents to those cited in New Jersey,” Pate said. “We have numerous checks and balances in place when it comes to election security and voter list maintenance. While New Jersey has automatic voter registration, Iowa does not. Because of this difference in voter registration procedure, Iowa is not impacted. Our regular list maintenance includes data sharing and audits with Iowa partners, such as the Iowa Department of Transportation, which help ensure the integrity of our voter lists. We are in active conversation with the Iowa Department of Transportation as we monitor this situation.”