The League of Women Voters IA has kicked off a "Petition campaign" to repeal sections of 2021 voting laws - Senate File 413 and Senate File 568. The petition reads as follows: Despite a historic presidential election turnout in 2020 with both candidates receiving more votes than any other candidate ever, Iowa is one of 14 states that passed legislation in 2021 making it harder to vote, easy to alienate or disqualify voters, and more difficult to administer. We the undersigned, urge Iowa lawmakers to repeal sections of Senate File 413 and Senate File 568, which were signed into law in 2021. We believe voting should be easy to do and less challenging to administer. Interested people will be asked to do the following: Print their name, print city and state of residence, and sign with their signature. People who sign must live in Iowa and should be eligible to vote, 18 or older. They do not have to be registered to vote to sign the petition. If you want to assist with the petition drive, please contact Christie, our Voter Education and Voter Registration Committee Chair. Her email is: clger453@yahoo.com If your organization would like to partner with LWVIA, please contact Christie. RESTRICTIONS OF IOWA’S NEW ELECTION LAWS
Invalidates service members’ and other mail-in ballots that, even if mailed promptly, cannot be returned before polls close
Impedes voting by medical and other workers with 12-hour shifts by closing the polls earlier on voting days
Obstructs returning absentee ballots by limiting the use of ballot drop boxes to one per county, regardless of population, and by arbitrarily restricting who may return them
Unnecessarily shortens the early voting period from 29 days to 20 and needlessly limits ballot-request periods
Invites interference in our elections by allowing any outside group to challenge Iowa elections in court
Limits county auditors’ abilities to adapt to local conditions and criminalizes good-faith errors
Provides less time for voter registration and moves voters who miss any general election to an “inactive” list
For more information, go to www.lwvia.org/petitions