Iowa Secretary of State candidate Brad Anderson said Tuesday he plans to stop the use of federal funds to pay for investigations into alleged voter fraud and instead use the money, as well as other funds, to expand the use of electronic poll books. He also said he plans to clean up a flawed list of ineligible voters. Anderson, a Democrat, was campaigning Tuesday in Clinton, and he released a plan he said represents a clean break from the policies of Republican Matt Schultz, the current Secretary of State who is leaving the office to run for Congress. “Iowa has a history of clean, fair elections, and I believe we should have a chief elections official who recognizes that fact,” Anderson said.
Schultz has used federal Help America Vote Act funds to pay for a state investigator to research whether people in the state have voted or registered to vote illegally.
Democrats, including Anderson, have criticized the practice, saying it’s wasteful and disenfranchises voters when Iowa has relatively little fraudulent voter activity.
Schultz has argued that ineligible voters undermine the votes cast by Iowans who are qualified to vote.
Anderson said he would use the federal funds, as well as other monies, to streamline the use of electronic poll books in the state, encouraging county auditors to use the system that he says is already in place in 57 counties.
Full Article: Anderson: Use fed money for poll book expansion, not investigations.