DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Iowa’s top election official threw his support Wednesday behind GOP changes to his voter identification bill, after Republicans reversed course on plans to reduce early voting and polling hours in the state.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate initially declined to comment on whether he backed an amendment in the House that was briefly attached to his voter ID bill. It proposed reducing the number of early voting days in primary and general elections from 40 days to 29 days. It also would have cut polling hours for those elections from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Iowa currently has one of the longest early voting periods in the country, and Pate had not planned to change that distinction with his original version of the bill.
Pate released a statement Wednesday noting the proposed reductions had been dropped and added, “the bill in its current form has my full support.”
The changes to early voting and polling hours had been introduced by Marion Republican Rep. Ken Rizer, chairman for the House State Government Committee. The amendment was publicized Monday and formally dropped a day later.
Rizer said he had stronger support for other proposed changes without the provisions on early voting and polling hours. His remaining changes include a plan to eliminate the option of voting straight party with a single mark on a ballot.
Pate’s bill would require people to show one of several forms of acceptable identification at election polls. They include an Iowa driver’s license, a state ID, a U.S. passport or a military-related ID. The bill does not mandate a photo component, since people without a driver’s license are expected to receive a free state-issued ID card.
Rizor’s amendments mean different versions of the secretary of state’s bill are currently moving through both legislative chambers. Davenport Republican Sen. Roby Smith is chairman of the Senate State Government Committee, which is also reviewing the legislation. Smith indicated there may be additional amendments. He expected the bill to advance out of full committee on Thursday.
“It will not come up on the floor for a number of days,” he said about the plans after that.
A public hearing on the bill has been scheduled for Monday night.
A Senate subcommittee meeting Wednesday featured public feedback that mirrored discussion earlier this week when House lawmakers reviewed the legislation. Connie Ryan, who spoke on behalf of the Interfaith Alliance of Iowa Action Fund, said the bill as a whole still has many provisions that would make it harder to vote for the elderly and marginalized groups.
“It is simply wrong for the state of Iowa to diminish that right,” she said.
Some attendees also expressed support for the bill, which Pate has said is aimed at improving technologies used in Iowa’s election system. He has also said it’s aimed at maintaining Iowa’s election integrity, though there is little evidence of fraudulent voting in the state.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.