Supported by the Priorities USA Foundation, Plaintiffs File Motion Seeking Temporary Injunction in Lawsuit Against Iowa’s Burdensome Voting Law
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 27, 2018
Supported by the Priorities USA Foundation, Plaintiffs File Motion Seeking Temporary Injunction in Lawsuit Against Iowa’s Burdensome Voting Law
Washington, DC — Today, the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa and an Iowa State student, supported by the Priorities USA Foundation, filed a motion in the Iowa District Court for Polk County requesting that the court enjoin Secretary of State Paul Pate from enforcing provisions of House File 516 that infringe upon Iowa citizens’ right to vote and mounting a misleading advertising campaign regarding the state’s new voter identification requirements. The Priorities USA Foundation, a national non-partisan voting rights group, has been sponsoring these plaintiffs’ suit since May.
HF 516, which was signed into law last May, contains a number of changes to voting procedures that threaten to restrict eligible Iowans’ right to vote unless a judge immediately issues an injunction against them. The motion that was filed today seeks to suspend provisions in the law that shorten the window for absentee voting and threaten to disenfranchise lawful, eligible voters based on unnecessary and unreliable signature matching. Additionally, the motion asks the court to prevent Secretary Pate from continuing his misleading public information campaign that incorrectly suggests that HF 516’s new, stringent voter identification requirements are in place for the 2018 general election, when they in fact don’t apply in full until 2019.
The lawsuit will also challenge the law’s voter identification requirement itself, as well as its elimination of straight-party voting, which at least a third of Iowans used when voting in 2014 and 2016.
“No right is more fundamental to our democracy than the right to vote, and HF 516 begins a dangerous process of chipping away at that right for millions of Iowans,” said Guy Cecil, Chairman of the Priorities USA Foundation. “This law forces changes to voting that will result in confusion and outright suppression when Iowans start voting in just a few months, and they must be halted immediately. We support the motion being filed today and look forward to this case being heard in full.”
The Priorities USA Foundation is committed to protecting the right to vote for every American. The Foundation is also supporting lawsuits in Florida, New Hampshire and Indiana challenging laws and practices that restrict voters’ access to the ballot box.