DES MOINES, IOWA (December 3, 2024) — Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and Secretary of State Paul Pate have announced a lawsuit against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas and the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), demanding that the Biden-Harris Administration hand over information about known non-citizens on Iowa’s voter rolls.
The Biden-Harris Administration’s USCIS has refused the State’s repeated requests for information on the hundreds of non-citizens confirmed on Iowa’s voter rolls. USCIS’s failure meant that the State had to rely on the best — imperfect — data it had available to ensure that no Iowan's vote was canceled by an illegal, non-citizen vote. The State was then sued, due to the Biden-Harris Administration’s failure, right before election day. Senators Charles “Chuck” Grassley and Joni Ernst also called for the election integrity data that the federal government continues to withhold from Iowans.
“I am suing for the Biden-Harris Administration to finally release the election-integrity data that it has been hiding from Iowa,” said AG Bird. “The Biden-Harris Administration knows who the hundreds of non-citizens are on our voter rolls and has repeatedly refused to tell us who they are. But the law is clear: voters must be American citizens. Together, with the Sec of State, we will fight to maintain safe and secure elections that Iowans can count on.”
The lawsuit demands that the Biden-Harris Administration follow the law and give Iowa access to data on identified non-citizens on the State’s voter rolls.
“The role of Iowa Secretary of State requires balance between participation and integrity. We have identified solutions that will allow us to verify voter eligibility at registration — not at the time of voting,” said Sec Pate. “The combination of access to the SAVE list, citizenship verification already completed by USCIS, and the ability to verify using social-security numbers will not only make processes more efficient but will also provide another important tool in our toolbox to safeguard our elections process.”
Read the full lawsuit here.
