Bird defends state decision to submit voter data to feds

“I will fight for you,” Bird said. “I will fight to keep you and your children safe. I will uphold our law enforcement. I will support our constitution and uphold our laws.”

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Voter registration data

In May the state confirmed it had submitted voter registration data that included personally identifiable information like driver’s license and Society Security numbers to the DOJ, at the federal department’s request. 

At the time, Secretary of State Paul Pate and Bird said Iowa was legally obligated to comply with the request which sought to investigate potential election crimes in states across the country.

Not every state, however, turned over the data. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, 30 states were sued by the administration over the refusal to hand in the data, but more than 20 of those cases have been dismissed by the court.

Bird, when asked if her legal advice to submit the data was correct, given the case dismissals, said working to prevent illegal voting is better than working to prosecute it after it has occurred. 

“Because you can’t unscramble the egg, and it’s not possible to pull that vote out later,” Bird said. “So I think everything we can do to prevent illegal voting, to prevent fraudulent voting, I think it’s important that we do that.” 

That includes, she said, working with the federal government to “make sure that the voter rolls are correct.” 

Pate was also asked Monday about turning over voter data and said he was “sensitive” about the decision, which he had to make based on the information he had at the time. 

The state’s participation in the request to turn over the data was also criticized by Democrats, including Bird’s Democratic opponent in the race, Nate Willems. 

She said during her speech that she and Willems, a former state legislator and labor lawyer, don’t “see eye to eye” on a number of issues, including “stand your ground” and voter ID laws which she supports. 

Willems campaign manager Brittan Ostby said in a statement that Bird has used the office to “push a political agenda.”

“Nate Willems is running for attorney general to hold greedy corporations accountable, take on polluters when they poison our air and water, and will always keep our communities safe,” Ostby said

In her Soapbox speech at the Iowa State Fair, Bird highlighted issues she has worked on since being elected in 2022, including efforts to increase penalties for assaults on law enforcement officers, lawsuits related to transgender participation in women’s sports, suing “scammers” and launching a cold case unit. 

Bird also said she worked to protect Iowans from “woke mandates” like California’s Proposition 12 that would stipulate production standards for certain types of livestock, or mandates from other states to prioritize electric vehicles.

“Here in Iowa, we’re governed by Iowa laws and not theirs,” Bird said.

Willems is scheduled to speak at the Soapbox Friday. The full schedule can be found here. 

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