Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds Signs Controversial Shortening of Early Voting and Election Day Law

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The legislation, which passed both Republican-controlled chambers of the state legislature last month, will reduce the number of early voting days from 29 to 20 days. It will also close polling stations one hour before election day (at 8pm instead of 9pm).

The bill also establishes new restrictions on absentee voting, including a ban on officials from sending applications without a voter applying in advance and requiring the county to receive ballots before the polls close on election day.

“Our duty and responsibility is to protect the integrity of all elections. This legislation strengthens uniformity by providing Iowa election officials with consistent parameters for election day, absentee voting, database maintenance, and a process. clear of appeal to local county auditors, ”Reynolds explains. he said in a statement Monday.

“All of these additional steps favor more transparency and accountability, giving Iowans even greater confidence to vote.”

The new law provoked an immediate reaction from Democrats in the state, including a tweet from the Iowa Democratic Party stating, “We deserve better.”

“Instead of helping Iowans keep food on the table and a roof over their family heads, @IAGovernor and Iowa Republicans chose to speed up legislation that stacked the deck in their favor and disallowed the Iowans “, said the tweet.
Similarly, Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias called the law “the first major suppression law since the 2020 election.” in a tweet and noted that litigation could be filed.

The law is part of a larger effort by Republican lawmakers across the country, including the battlefield states of Georgia and Arizona, to regain access to the vote after the 2020 election. November saw a record number of early voters sent by e-mail, prompting unfounded fraud claims against voters of then-President Donald Trump and some of his fellow Republicans, and eventually leading to the deadly January 6 uprising.

Nationwide, according to a February analysis by the liberal-leaning Brennan Justice Center, at least 253 bills have been introduced this year in 43 state legislatures with provisions that would restrict access to the vote, more than six times the number. of bills the same time last year.

CNN’s Kelly Mena contributed to this report.

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