DES MOINES, Iowa - Republicans in the Iowa legislature are moving to change voting guidelines before November's general election.
The GOP controlled Senate has a proposal to prohibit the secretary of state from mailing absentee ballot requests without written requests from voters, and prevent county auditors from reducing poling locations by more than 35 percent. Both those actions were taken by election officials before last week's primary contest in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Republicans say the measure is meant to clarify voting guidelines, while Democrats say the changes will suppress votes.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is standing by his move to mail absentee voting applications to all registered voters for the primary, which saw more than 411,000 absentee ballots cast. Overall, more than 520,000 votes were cast in the primary - shattering the existing record of about 450,000 set in 1994.
A senate committee passed the Republican proposal on party lines Friday. The measure is opposed by some county auditors.