Iowa will require voters to show identification at the polls under a bill announced Thursday by the state’s top election official, and Republicans in the new GOP-controlled Legislature have indicated a willingness to pass it. The legislation mirrors voter ID bills introduced in Republican-controlled statehouses around the United States in recent years and comes just weeks after President-elect Donald Trump questioned — with no evidence — the integrity of voting in the presidential election. “We just want to ensure that voters are who they say they are,” Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in releasing details. Pate’s office said a draft of the bill was not available yet, but included a plan to require Iowa residents to show an Iowa driver’s license, passport or other approved form of ID to vote. The office would distribute free state-issued IDs to existing registered voters, according to Pate, though his office is seeking $1 million to help make that happen.
The bill would also prohibit college students from using school-issued IDs to vote. The counties that house Iowa’s three public universities were some of the handful of counties that voted for Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Nov. 8 election.
Pate, a Republican, had defended Iowa’s current voting system in October following a tweet from Trump that said the 2016 elections would be rigged and criticizing GOP officials who denied his claims.
Full Article: Iowa’s top election official announces voter ID bill.