After a couple of “hiccups” getting started, a state investigation into voter fraud is “moving in the right direction” and Iowans will begin seeing results soon, Secretary of State Matt Schultz said. “We had a couple of setbacks, but we’re doing the best we can,” the first-term Republican said Wednesday while in Coralville. Shortly after the investigation began, a Division of Criminal Investigation agent assigned to look into voter fraud allegations was called to active duty in the National Guard, and a second agent had to be assigned to the cases. “It’s been like trying to use a shovel to move a mountain,” Schultz said. “Quite frankly, we could use more resources, but I anticipate having answers soon.” The investigation has not been without detractors. Chief among them is Democrat Brad Anderson, who wants Schultz’s job. Anderson, who worked for former Gov. Chet Culver and was state director of President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, has called the investigation a waste. “Look,” Anderson said Thursday, “any secretary of state should be diligent about going after voter fraud. But he should go about it without disenfranchising voters.”
Anderson prefers to detect voter fraud or other irregularities at the front end — when Iowans attempt to vote — through the expanded use of electronic poll books “rather than spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax money after the fact.” He also noted that Schultz’s investigation has yet to produce a single conviction.
“Trust me,” Schultz said, “I hate sitting back and not having results right now. But I’m confident in the DCI and its ability, and I’m confident that we will have results.”
Results Anderson would like to see are more Iowans voting. Rather than make voter fraud his sole focus, he said Schultz should spend more time and effort getting the 600,000 eligible voters who didn’t participate in the 2012 election to the polls.
Full Article: Iowa election chief expects results of fraud probe soon.