Iowa challenges US citizens’ ability to vote

Iowa’s Republican Secretary of State has challenged a list of people he claims are ineligible to vote. Iowa Starting Line spoke with one person on that list, a US citizen who wonders why the state is challenging his right to vote.

Just one day before the 2023 local election, Orçun Selçuk, an immigrant from Turkey, became a citizen of the United States. Walking into his precinct, he flashed a certificate of citizenship, registered to vote, and filled out his very first US ballot. He had been in the United States since 2013. 

“It’s a very long process to become a US citizen. Not just financial but logistical, especially in rural Iowa,” he said. 

After obtaining a green card, Selçuk moved to Iowa to teach at Luther College. He described frequent trips to Des Moines for interviews and biometric scans, each bookended by a one-way, three-hour drive. During that time, he said he paid thousands of dollars for gas, hotel rooms, and fees. But it all paid off when he finally got to vote.

“It should be a milestone to celebrate,” he said, “and it was a milestone for me, too.”

He cast his first ballot in a school board race last November. He cast his second for a school ballot initiative in Decorah last month. And he cast his third when early voting began for the 2024 presidential election. 

Only this time, there was a problem. 

He received mail from Winneshiek County Auditor Ben Steines, a Republican, challenging his ballot, claiming incorrectly that Selçuk “is not a United States citizen.” 

“Which was a surprise to me,” Selçuk told Iowa Starting Line.

Steines’ challenge gave Selçuk a deadline for presenting himself to the Auditor. Otherwise his ballot would be thrown out. 

“Why would I vote if I’m not a US citizen?” he said. “I know my rights. And one of the things they tell you after you become a US citizen is that you are eligible to vote. … But Iowa seems to have some questions about that.” 

Selçuk is one of many US citizens in Iowa that Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, is obstructing from voting. Pate’s office acknowledges that his—at this point secret—list of voters has people on it who have done nothing wrong and are legal voters. 

Rather than check these names with the Department of Social Security or with federal immigration officers, Pate has instead directed county officials and poll workers to challenge any ballots cast by the 2,022 Iowans on his list. Those voters whose ballots are challenged can vote via a provisional ballot that will only be counted once their citizenship and voting eligibility is determined after the fact. 

While he’s claiming to fight potential fraud, what very likely could happen from Pate’s challenges is citizens who are legally eligible to vote like Selçuk have to jump through extra hoops and prove their citizenship to get their votes to count.

“I’m more concerned about people who maybe took their time to go and vote for the first time and now they have to go back again. Maybe they won’t have time. Maybe they will be afraid to go there,” Selçuk said. “There’s a chance that their vote might not be counted, or they might be intimidated, right? Voting should be easy, especially for new citizens.”

The Gazette reported that as of Friday at least four people on the challenge list in Linn County are US citizens. As of Friday, Linn County Auditor Joel Miller had not completed his review of Pate’s challenge list but was already finding more US citizens on it. Miller, who ran against Pate in 2022, said, “I think it’s just twisted political theater, trying to make a point, and all of those people are probably going to turn out to be naturalized citizens.”

Pate’s actions come amid an expansive right-wing effort to sow distrust in elections by manufacturing the specter of noncitizen voting ahead of the 2024 election. Tactics have included attempts to purge voter rolls on the basis that they’re filled with noncitizens, filing baseless lawsuits claiming noncitizens are voting, spreading propaganda videos about noncitizens voting, and pushing ballot measures (like Iowa’s own) that insinuate it is not already illegal for noncitizens to vote. These efforts undermine the credibility of the election and are almost certainly setting the stage for Donald Trump to challenge the election results if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the presidency.

Over the summer, Selçuk published a book on the tactics of populist leaders in other countries who divide constituents by building “a dichotomy of inclusion and exclusion,” ultimately undermining the democratic process. Looking at the way Iowa is challenging the ballots of newer citizens, he said it connected to what he has seen elsewhere.

“It is essentially an authoritarian measure to intimidate voters, to suppress voters,” he said. “These allegations cast doubt on the electoral process. And I think that’s one of the downsides of this whole thing that I’m experiencing: It undermines trust in the electoral process. Especially, I think, when elections are very close.”

Voting or registering to vote in Iowa without US citizenship is a Class D felony, punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $7,500. It is also illegal to knowingly file a challenge containing false information. It is an aggravated misdemeanor under Iowa Code.