A total of 2,176 people were affected – 2,022 who identified themselves to the Iowa Department of Transportation or another state entity as noncitizens and subsequently registered to vote or participated in elections in the past 12 years. Another 154 people were identified as having registered to vote or participated in the election and later identified themselves as non-citizens.

Although individuals are listed – including the plaintiffs represented in the lawsuit – who are naturalized citizens and therefore can legally vote, federal officials also identified 250 names on the Iowa voter register, who appear to be non-citizens. Registering to vote or voting as a non-citizen in a US election is a felony in Iowa, punishable by up to five years in prison and fines of $750 to $7,500.

U.S. District Judge Stephen Locher wrote in the decision that he would not block Pate’s referral or require the people on the list to be allowed to vote regularly because there are at least some people on the list who are not U.S. citizens.

“It seems to be indisputable that part of the name on the secretary Pate’s list is really registered voters who are not citizens of the United States,” Locher wrote. “It seems that this portion be relatively small—no more than twelve percent—but, nevertheless, the injunctive relief sought by In effect, plaintiffs would be forcing local election officials to allow those individuals to vote.”

The ACLU challenged the law on several fronts, including that the law violated the National Voter Registration Act’s 90-day “quiet period” requirement on systematic voter suppression before elections. Locher agreed with the state’s arguments that this law did not violate those standards because no voters were removed from Iowa’s voter rolls, only their voter qualifications were challenged at the polls.

He also referenced two US Supreme Court decisions in recent days allowing voters to be removed from Virginia’s electoral rolls by executive order of Governor Glenn Youngkin as well as support Pennsylvania The decision of the Supreme Court to allow voters to file provisional ballots if their postal ballots were found to be defective. He said those precedents advise that “the Court should proceed with great caution before granting last-minute relief on how Iowa officials are handling election matters.”

Locher noted that registered voters still appear on Iowa voter rolls and are eligible to cast regular ballots if they provide proof of citizenship when they cast their ballots. He added that local election officials don’t necessarily have an obligation to challenge every single person listed as a potential non-citizen.

“Similarly, Pate’s counsel indicated—consistent with the Court’s interpretation of Iowa law—that local election officials are not required per se to challenge the votes of anyone on the list of 2,176 voters and instead can exercise their own independent judgment based on available information to the official, which would include, but not be limited to, the information in Secretary Pate’s letter,” Locher wrote.

Pate released a statement Sunday celebrating the ruling as “a victory for the integrity of Iowa’s elections.”

“U.S. elections are for American citizens, and ensuring that only eligible voters participate in the electoral process in Iowa is critical to protecting the integrity of the vote,” Pate said in the statement. “The Iowa Secretary of State’s role requires balance — making sure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot, while also making sure that only eligible voters participate in Iowa elections. Both are critical components to the integrity of Iowa’s elections.”

Pate also noted that the office will continue to “seek clarity” on the current citizenship status of those on the list, reiterating its request to the federal office of US Citizenship and Immigration Services to allow its office in Des Moines to share information about these people. In a press release Thursday, Pate said the USCIS office in Iowa confirmed that it has completed a review of individuals identified as potential noncitizens, but that the USCIS federal office “refuses to let the Des Moines office share these with us results”.

The secretary of state repeated his call on Sunday for “the Washington DC office of Citizenship and Immigration Services to allow the Iowa field office to release this clarifying information to us, which is critical to ensuring that only American citizens vote in our elections “.

Other statewide Republican elected officials, including Gov. Kim Reynolds and Attorney General Brenna Bird, also praised the district court’s decision. Bird said she was “pleased to lead the court fight to defend Iowa’s long-standing election integrity laws” and said the decision “is a guarantee for all Iowans that their votes will count and will not be overturned by illegal ballots “.

Reynolds called the ruling “a victory for election integrity.”

“In Iowa, while we encourage all citizens to vote, we will enforce the law and make sure those votes are not nullified by the illegal voting of a non-citizen,” Reynolds said in a statement.

The ACLU of Iowa had not yet released a response to the decision as of press time.