Several Iowa counties are expanding mail-in voting. The Trump campaign is only suing the Democratic-leaning ones.
The Trump campaign launched a lawsuit against two Iowa counties on Wednesday, suing the counties for making it easy to vote by mail, reports The Associated Press.
The Democratic-leaning counties had distributed absentee ballot request forms that had pre-filled boxes with voters' names, dates of birth, and voting pin numbers. The idea was that voters could just sign and return the forms to get mail-in ballots ahead of November's election.
But the Trump campaign says tens of thousands of ballot applications should be invalidated because the process wrongly includes personal information, violating Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate's instruction that the request forms should be mailed blank to "ensure uniformity." Pate, a Republican, isn't suing the counties, but said his office is investigating.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, a Democrat, said the applications were pre-filled to avoid common mistakes. "I'm just trying to protect people in my community from the pandemic," he said, arguing the move was within his authority.
As Obama campaign manager and former White House Deputy Chief of Staff Jim Messina put it, the attempt to "disenfranchise voters" isn't likely to earn the president many brownie points in a state where he's already walking a thin line.
Notably, the Trump campaign is not suing a Republican-leaning county in Iowa that did the exact same thing. Read more at The Associated Press.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Summer Meza has worked at The Week since 2018, serving as a staff writer, a news writer and currently the deputy editor. As a proud news generalist, she edits everything from political punditry and science news to personal finance advice and film reviews. Summer has previously written for Newsweek and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, covering national politics, transportation and the cannabis industry.
-
Should parents stop tracking their kids?Talking Point Experts warn the line between care and control is getting murkier – and could have consequences
-
How drones have detected a deadly threat to Arctic whalesUnder the radar Monitoring the sea in the air
-
A running list of the US government figures Donald Trump has pardonedin depth Clearing the slate for his favorite elected officials
-
Hegseth moves to demote Sen. Kelly over videospeed read Retired Navy fighter pilot Mark Kelly appeared in a video reminding military service members that they can ‘refuse illegal orders’
-
Trump says US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela after Maduro grabSpeed Read The American president claims the US will ‘run’ Venezuela for an unspecified amount of time, contradicting a statement from Secretary of State Marco Rubio
-
Bari Weiss’ ‘60 Minutes’ scandal is about more than one reportIN THE SPOTLIGHT By blocking an approved segment on a controversial prison holding US deportees in El Salvador, the editor-in-chief of CBS News has become the main story
-
CBS pulls ‘60 Minutes’ report on Trump deporteesSpeed Read An investigation into the deportations of Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s notorious prison was scrapped
-
Trump administration posts sliver of Epstein filesSpeed Read Many of the Justice Department documents were heavily redacted, though new photos of both Donald Trump and Bill Clinton emerged
-
Trump HHS moves to end care for trans youthSpeed Read The administration is making sweeping proposals that would eliminate gender-affirming care for Americans under age 18
-
Jack Smith tells House of ‘proof’ of Trump’s crimesSpeed Read President Donald Trump ‘engaged in a criminal scheme to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election,’ hoarded classified documents and ‘repeatedly tried to obstruct justice’
-
House GOP revolt forces vote on ACA subsidiesSpeed Read The new health care bill would lower some costs but not extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies
