Iowa Democrats ponder strategies amid GOP-forced voting changes

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Iowa Democrats are beginning to consider changes to their get-out-the-vote plans under the assumption that Gov. Kim Reynolds will sign into law a Republican-backed bill that makes it harder to vote early, potentially eroding a key aspect of Democratic campaigns.

Republicans in the House and Senate quickly approved the voting changes over the opposition of all Democratic legislators. Republicans said the new rules were needed to guard against voting fraud, though they noted Iowa has no history of election irregularities and that November's election saw record turnout with no hint of problems in the state.

Reynolds earlier expressed openness to the changes, but the Republican has declined to discuss the measure since its approval in late February. Democrats, however, take little solace from her silence and said they're examining their reliance on early voting, which in the last election resulted in more than 70% of Democrats voting early.

“We don’t have to wait to get people registered to vote. We don’t have to wait to have Democrats talking with their neighbors in rural and metropolitan areas in the state about how these harmful pieces of legislation are being forced through,” said Iowa Democratic Party Chairman Ross Wilburn.

Read more: https://www.timesargus.com/news/national/iowa-dems-ponder-strategies-amid-gop-forced-voting-changes/article_a0a28015-c8d4-57eb-86c9-244a15ea3e95.html
(Barre-Montpelier Times Argus)