Joel Miller: I want every Iowan to participate in trusted elections

In 2021, I announced my candidacy for Iowa secretary of state, starting with one simple message: “Let’s make voting easy again!” Pretty simple. But it has to be said because in Iowa, under the failed leadership of Paul Pate, we’ve gone backward. We have made it harder for Iowans to cast their ballot because of shortened deadlines to vote by mail and vote early.

In Iowa, early voting periods have been cut in half since 2016. And now, there is less time for voters to receive mailed absentee ballots and get them back to county auditors to be counted.

We have seen hundreds of thousands of voters unlawfully inactivated, including 17-year-olds registered to vote but not old enough to vote in the 2020 general election.

And we have watched the window to accept absentee ballots shortened while all 99 counties have exactly one drop box for absentee ballots.

Since last year, Pate has stayed silent on the new anti-voter election legislation. And he has remained silent as unfounded election security conspiracy theories continue to fester around the state.

Pate’s silence isn’t just negligence to the office of Secretary of State. It is a dangerous collaboration with election deniers on his part. He knows exactly who the chief election deniers are, and he will not call them out.

A secretary of state is supposed to facilitate the vote — not hinder it, not embolden extremists.

This November, can we really say that we trust the judgment of Pate? Can we trust him to certify the presidential election results in November 2024?

This is a man who endorsed and then chaired Rudy Giuliani’s statewide presidential campaign in Iowa.

On Sept. 16, I debated Pate on Iowa PBS. Multiple times, I demanded that Pate, as our chief elections official, perform the simple task of disavowing the most dangerous election deniers in the country. And he refused.

Let’s call that behavior what it is. Paul Pate is an enabler. He is enabling corrupt leaders who are hell bent on ruining the integrity of our elections.

More:What Iowa secretary of state candidates Paul Pate & Joel Miller say about voting, elections

It is time we fight back against these coordinated efforts to stop Iowans from showing up at the polls. It’s time to stamp out the warped conspiracy theories of election deniers.

In 2020, I was the first county auditor to be sued by Donald Trump and his campaign. I was sued for expanding voter participation and keeping voting safe during a deadly pandemic. I did the right thing.

Pate and the extreme-right like to say I broke the law. I did not.

I am running because I want every Iowan to participate in our elections. I am running because I want to bring back trust and fairness in Iowa's elections. And I am running because I want to restore leadership to the Secretary of State's office.

I brought the fight to the Trump administration when they tried to make it harder for Iowans to vote. And now I’m ready to take on and defeat Trump and Giuliani’s favorite secretary of state.

Joel Miller is the Democratic candidate for secretary of state. He is Linn County auditor.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Joel Miller: I want every Iowan to participate in trusted elections