All Eyes on Iowa Governor Over Elections Bill

February 26, 2021 by TWN Staff
All Eyes on Iowa Governor Over Elections Bill
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds

DES MOINES, Iowa – Residents of Iowa will have to wait until next week to learn if dramatic changes are going to be made to how they participate in future elections. 

Earlier this week, both houses of the State Legislature voted along party lines with their Republican majorities to reduce the time polls are open on Election Day and limit the period set aside for early voting. 

The bill is now awaiting the signature of Gov. Kim Reynolds, who has indicated in the past that she supports the legislation. 

The looming question is just why Iowa Republicans are so intent on imposing the new limits. In 2020, Iowa had the third-highest turnout rate among eligible voters, according to the United States Election Project, coming in behind only Maine and Minnesota. And most of those votes appeared to benefit Republicans. 

Former President Donald Trump won the state by 8.2 percentage points, while Sen. Joni Ernst, who was considered highly vulnerable last year, won her bid for re-election by 6.6%. 

The bill before Gov. Reynolds would shorten the early voting period from 29 days to 20 days and close polls on Election Day at 8 p.m. rather than 9 p.m. It would also require all absentee ballots to arrive before polls close, while current law allows any ballots postmarked before Election Day to later be counted. 

It would also shorten deadlines for absentee ballot requests and voter pre-registration to 15 days before Election Day and create felony charges for county auditors who don’t follow election guidance from the Iowa Secretary of State. 

Most Republicans, including Reynolds, have consistently maintained there was no evidence of election fraud in the 2020 election and explain the proposed changes as a way to “enhance and improve” Iowa’s elections. 

Others, like state Sen. Jim Carlin, a Sioux City Republican, said they support the measure because they have concerns about the election integrity in other states and want further guardrails in place for their own. 

But Democrats in the state said the changes smack of nothing but voter suppression. 

Speaking to the Des Moines Register, Democratic state Rep. Sharon Steckman questioned the whole exercise.  

“We had no fraud. We had a record turnout. People were happy with the way they got to vote absentee — a million people. And you better believe some of those people were Republicans, because you won,” she said. 

A+
a-
  • elections
  • elections changes
  • Iowa
  • Kim Reynolds
  • Republicans
  • voting
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    In The States

    Camp Mystic 'Grieving the Loss of 27 Campers and Counselors' Following Catastrophic Texas Floods

    KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Camp Mystic says it is mourning the loss of 27 campers and counselors as the search... Read More

    KERRVILLE, Texas (AP) — Camp Mystic says it is mourning the loss of 27 campers and counselors as the search continued Monday for victims of catastrophic Texas flooding over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. The statement adds another layer of heartbreak to the devastating flooding... Read More

    Democrats See Trump’s Big Bill as Key to Their Comeback

    WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax... Read More

    WINDSOR HEIGHTS, Iowa (AP) — It is big and it is beautiful, President Donald Trump says. But for many Democratic leaders, the tax break and spending cut package passed by Trump's Republican allies in Congress on Thursday represents the key to the Democratic Party's resurgence. Even before the final vote,... Read More

    Trump Ramps Up His Attacks Against NYC's Zohran Mamdani as GOP Seizes on New Foe

    NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has a new political foil: New York’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. The president, who... Read More

    NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump has a new political foil: New York’s Democratic nominee for mayor, Zohran Mamdani. The president, who has a history of spewing sometimes vile insults at rivals, has in recent days escalated his attacks against the 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist. Trump has threatened... Read More

    California Rolls Back Environmental Protection to Aid Housing Development

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rolled back a 54-year-old landmark environmental protection law to aid in faster... Read More

    SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California Gov. Gavin Newsom has rolled back a 54-year-old landmark environmental protection law to aid in faster housing and infrastructure development.  Announced on Monday, the new law reverses the California Environmental Quality Act. Newsom said in a written statement that the reversal aimed... Read More

    Wisconsin Supreme Court’s Liberal Majority Strikes Down 176-Year-Old Abortion Ban

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling... Read More

    MADISON, Wis. (AP) — The Wisconsin Supreme Court’s liberal majority struck down the state’s 176-year-old abortion ban on Wednesday, ruling 4-3 that it was superseded by newer state laws regulating the procedure, including statutes that criminalize abortions only after a fetus can survive outside the womb.... Read More

    July 1, 2025
    by Dan McCue
    FBI to Stay in Downtown DC

    WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has selected the site of its new headquarters and the big news is,... Read More

    WASHINGTON — The Federal Bureau of Investigation has selected the site of its new headquarters and the big news is, it’s literally just down the street from its current building. On Tuesday, the agency and the General Services Administration announced the FBI is headed up Pennsylvania... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top