(Des Moines) Iowa District 21 Representative Tom Moore says this week the Iowa Legislature worked on reforming the states voting procedures. The Griswold Republican says although the 2020 elections were secure and well-run; there is always room for improvement.
On Thursday, the State Government Committee passed a bill by a 13-7 party-line vote that would increase penalties for election misconduct and mandate voter registration maintenance, such as removing deceased people from the voter rolls.
Moore says to prevent abuse of absentee ballots, this bill will reform the process in the following ways:
Absentee ballots will be available 70 days before an election. It was previously 120 days. This prohibits absentee ballots from being sent out with information already filled out.
Additionally, absentee ballots would not be mailed in more than 18 days before an election. It was previously 29 days.
In-person and satellite absentee voting will not be able to occur more than 18 days before an election, to prevent ballot harvesting, and only immediate family, qualified caretakers, or people living in the same house would be able to return an absentee ballot for another person.
Moore says critics say by shrinking timeframes for absentee ballots to be returned is equivalent to voter suppression. Moore thinks70 days to fill out a ballot and 18 days to return it is more than enough time.
