Voter Fraud in Iowa?

Last week on the Glenn Beck Program, Beck read an email from a listener in Iowa who described voter fraud. 

Listen:

Here’s the transcript:

Beck: Let me read this to you here. 

(Reading Letter) Dear Glenn,

I want you to know in the state of Iowa yesterday, our sister and (her) daughter and son-in-law, who is a U.S. citizen but from Argentina and speaks with a heavy accent went in to vote ahead of his wife. 

They handed him, my nephew, a voting ballot that was inside a plastic sheet. He went to the voting table before the machines and when he looked at it he saw that the ballot was already filled out with all of the Democratic candidates. He got angry and went back to them and said, ‘What are you doing? Give me a ballot that is blank.’

They seemed a little flustered as if they were hiding something. 

My extended family believes the volunteers thought he was an illegal who didn’t know better by his thick accent and dark skin.

Which would be racist of course.

It seems as if they had a separate container with these premarked Democratic ballots. I am furious, my entire family is furious. My sister said trucks of illegals are taken to work in the town by Tyson and many of those are given these ballots at the voting station only a driver’s license is required to vote there. The attendants tell them to just push it through the machine. 

Clear voter fraud. This is in Iowa.

Well, clear voter fraud if it happened. I’m trying to get information from the Glenn Beck Program about the email. 

It seems as though we have four different accusations going on here.

1. Illegal immigrants are voting.
2. Tyson Foods is hiring and transporting illegal immigrants.
3. Immigrants are voting.
4. Immigrants (legal and illegal) are handed a pre-filled ballot favoring Democratic candidates.

I’m only going to address the accusations related to voting.

First, with the voter ID law that passed in 2017, a driver’s license is required as the listener said to Beck. “Only a driver’s license is needed to vote there,” she specifically said. 

Only a driver’s license? That’s huge. In 2018, since the law is just going into effect. From the Election Administrator’s Handbook provided by the Iowa Secretary of State’s office, here are instructions for non-Election Day registration voters regarding identification:

Pre-registered voters, pending voters, and voters changing precincts are all required to provide proof of identity before receiving and casting a regular ballot. During 2018, a voter without identification who is pre-registered in the county where the voter lives may sign an Oath of Identification.

Pending voters and voters changing precincts must also provide proof of residence, if proof ofidentity does not contain the voter’s current address.

Proof of residence documents may be provided in an electronic format, such as on a cell phone.

Temporary licenses or IDs issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation must be accepted as proof of identity and/or residency while the temporary ID is valid. The temporary ID is valid for 30 days, and each one will have an expiration date printed on it.

Voters who are unable to show ID (or prove residence if required) may have their identities attested to by another registered voter in the precinct or have the right to cast a provisional ballot.

Voters who register on Election Day are expected to prove who they are and where they live. 

Here are the options for the ID requirement:

• Iowa non-driver ID card
• Out-of-state driver’s license or non-driver ID card
• U.S. passport
• U.S. military ID
• ID card issued by employer
• Student ID issued by Iowa high school or college
• Tribal ID

Here are the options for proof of residence requirements:

• Residential lease
• Utility bill (including a cell phone bill)
• Bank statement
• Paycheck
• Government check or other government document

Is it possible for an illegal immigrant to vote? Certainly, but that means somebody is providing an ID for them. 

It’s more plausible that a legal immigrant would be mistakenly allowed to register and vote, but there is a good chance for that person to be caught. 

Also, regarding the claim certain voters get a pre-filled out ballot, at each precinct there is supposed to be an equal number of Democrats, Republicans, and workers not appointed to either party (“No Party,” Green Party, Libertarian Party) appointed to the Precinct Election Board that works the polling place. 

Nobody representing Republicans at the polling location notices this is going on? 

I suppose it’s possible the partisan make-up of the precinct is not followed, but as you can see there are a lot of things that need to fall by the wayside in order for any of this to happen.

Right now we have a third-hand accusation (Beck reading a second-hand account) so this is not even eyewitness testimony. We don’t know where this took place in Iowa, Tyson has locations in Black Hawk, Buchanan, Buena Vista, Cherokee, Dallas, Louisa, and Woodbury Counties. 

So, I have questions, these are serious allegations and should be followed up on, but more information is needed to determine if this claim is even remotely credible.

Photo credit: Tom Arthur (CC-By-SA 2.0)