What Iowa secretary of state candidates Paul Pate & Joel Miller say about voting, elections
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Two candidates are vying for the secretary of state's office in 2022: Republican incumbent Paul Pate and Democrat Joel Miller.
The Iowa secretary of state oversees elections, supervises the 99 county auditors and provides business services. In their responses to a Des Moines Register survey, Pate and Miller outlined their plans to improve access to voting and increase trust in the electoral system.
More: Candidates for Iowa's top election official clash on voting laws, misinformation
To help voters, the Des Moines Register sent questions to all federal, statewide and Des Moines area legislative candidates running for political office this year. Their answers appear in alphabetical order by last name and have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Early voting begins Oct. 19 for the Nov. 8 election.
Who is Joel Miller?
Age: 67
Residence: Robins
Party: Democrat
Education: Associate of applied science degree in police science, associate of applied science degree in electronics engineering technology, bachelor of science degree in liberal studies
Occupation: Linn County auditor & commissioner of elections
Political and civic experience:
Served as Linn County auditor since 2007
Former chair of the Linn County Democratic Central Committee
Former city council member and mayor of Robins
Member of Metro North Rotary (Cedar Rapids), American Legion Post 298 (Marion) and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish (Hiawatha).
Who is Paul Pate?
Age: 64
Residence: Cedar Rapids
More: A guide to voter rights in Iowa. What you need to know before you cast a ballot
Party: Republican
Education: Associate of arts degree from Kirkwood Community College
Occupation: Iowa secretary of state
Political and civic experience:
Serving third term as Iowa secretary of state
Co-chair of the National Association of Secretaries of State Elections Committee
Served as NASS president in 2019-20
Served two terms as mayor of Cedar Rapids and as an Iowa state senator
Former president of the Iowa League of Cities and a nationally recognized small business leader.
What would be your top issue should you be elected?
Miller: To MAKE VOTING EASY AGAIN. Voters who have not missed an election in decades are being discouraged from voting by the arbitrary deadlines enacted into law in 2021. For example, in 2016, the deadline to request an absentee ballot was three days before an election. In 2017, the deadline moved to 10 days before an election. And in 2021 and today, the deadline is 15 days before an election. No fact-based justification has been given for changing the deadline; but the fact is a large number of voters missed the 15-day deadline in the June primary election, and they likely concluded their government does not care if they vote or want them to vote. I want every eligible person to vote.
Pate: Continuing to protect the sanctity and security of Iowa's elections while increasing voter registration and participation. Iowa was recently named one of the top three states in the nation for election administration. I'd like us to be No. 1. We've made it easy to vote but hard to cheat. Under my watch, that will continue.
More:What the 3 candidates running for Iowa's 4th Congressional District say about abortion, guns
What can the secretary of state do to reassure Iowans who may distrust the election system that their votes will be counted accurately?
Miller: First, Paul Pate should publicly and repeatedly disavow the chief election deniers, i.e., Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani. In 2007, Pate not only endorsed Giuliani, but chaired his statewide presidential campaign. In 2015, Trump headlined a Pate campaign fundraiser. Pate undermines his own messaging that Iowa's elections are safe and secure by failing to disavow Trump, Giuliani and other election deniers. Second, respond to public records requests in a timely manner. Openness instills trust. Third, inspect what you expect. Assign personnel to inspect the practices of county election offices to ensure the integrity of our overall elections infrastructure.
Pate: Iowans vote on paper ballots. You can’t hack a paper ballot. Iowa has pre-election and post-election audits. Every ballot tabulator undergoes a logic and accuracy test to ensure it is functioning properly. These tests take place in view of the public, and both political parties are invited to observe. Every vote tabulator in Iowa produces a paper receipt of the totals that can be matched to the paper ballot totals to ensure accuracy.
Post-election audits take place for a randomly selected precinct in all 99 counties. A bipartisan team hand counts the ballots to ensure they match the totals from the tabulators. The hand-count audits consistently match perfectly, 100% in every county.
More:Meet Christina Bohannan & Mariannette Miller-Meeks, running for Iowa's 1st Congressional District
What would you do as secretary of state to make it easier for Iowans to vote?
Miller: First, I would print absentee ballot request forms in newspapers across the state because not everyone has access to a printer, but almost everyone has access to a newspaper. In Linn County before the June 2022 primary election, we printed absentee ballot request forms in our county-wide newspaper. Over 30% of the request forms we received originated from those newspaper ads. Second, I would direct county auditors to extend their office hours during the 20 days of early voting to ensure voters had more hours to access the ballot box. Third, I would lobby legislators to reverse the restrictive election laws passed in 2021 and oppose any further restrictions on voting.
Pate: Under my watch, Iowa has set record highs for voter registration and participation multiple times. Iowa is a national leader in both.
We implemented Iowa's online voter registration system in 2016, making it faster and easier to register than ever. We also created the Safe at Home address confidentiality program, so survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, trafficking, stalking and assault can vote without fear of their address becoming public. More than 1,200 Iowans participate in the program.
My office works with stakeholder groups and expends significant resources to educate Iowans about law changes and deadlines. We will continue to make it easy to vote but hard to cheat.
More:'Aren't you glad you live in Iowa?' Republican ads pounce on what's wrong with America
How would you ensure Iowa’s election system is secure from manipulation and fraud?
Miller: First, the key to further securing Iowa's election infrastructure is for the secretary of state to create a team of election specialists who can provide on-site assistance to each of Iowa's 99 county auditors. Also, these specialists could become the backups for auditors' offices in the event of something like a COVID outbreak on election day. Currently, no such backup team exists, which means we are one catastrophe away from not being able to report election results on election night.
Second, form an advisory group of election professionals to conduct ongoing, transparent-as-possible, third-party testing of Iowa's election infrastructure to ensure we are using state-of-the-art best practices.
Pate: I wrote Iowa's voter ID laws and defended them successfully in court multiple times. We have voter ID at the polls and on absentee ballot requests. These are important safeguards.
My office works closely with multiple state and federal agencies to protect our election cybersecurity and ensure voters and poll workers are safe in all 99 counties.
There is zero evidence of any unauthorized intrusions into Iowa’s election systems. Our voter registration system resides in a secure facility with the same standards of protection the FBI uses. It has multiple intrusion detection and protection systems in place.
The state of Iowa is dedicated to protecting the integrity and security of your vote.
More:What Ashley Hinson and Liz Mathis say about abortion, inflation in Iowa's 2nd District race
How would you make business filings more efficient for businesses and useful for the public?
Miller: First, create an Office of Small Business Advocacy to reduce the costs of starting a business, like creating an online tool for startups to form (not to be confused with file) limited liability companies without the need to hire a lawyer.
Second, create an online tool to bring more transparency to business filings. If an elected or appointed official at any level of government has ownership in a business, those potential conflicts of interest should be easily discoverable by the public.
Pate: Iowans registered the highest number of new business entities in state history during each of the past two years. 90% of new business filings in Iowa are created using Fast Track Filing.
This system implemented by my office in 2018 greatly expedites the registration process, allowing same-day service. It's faster and easier than ever for businesses to file with the state of Iowa.
More types of filings continue to be added to the Fast Track system.
My office also reduced filing fees for businesses, beginning July 1. Biennial report fees for most entities have decreased by $15 and Uniform Commercial Code filing fees were cut in half.
We've been the news Iowa depends upon since 1849. Subscribe to help us continue our mission.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Meet the Iowa secretary of state candidates running for election
