Democratic secretary of state candidate Ryan Peterman said Saturday he believes recent changes to Iowa election law dealing with early voting and voter identification do not make Iowa elections more secure — but do make elections less accessible.
Peterman, who is challenging incumbent Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate in the 2026 election, gave a speech at the Des Moines Register Political Soapbox at the Iowa State Fair, where he called for Iowans to elect a secretary of state who “knows who they work for.”
The Democratic candidate, a former naval officer, criticized his opponent for sharing voter registration data, including personally identifiable information like driver’s license and Social Security numbers, with the U.S. Department of Justice. Pate had announced in May that Iowa complied with the DOJ request after consulting with the secretary of state’s legal team and the Iowa Attorney General’s Office, which found that the U.S. attorney general had the power to demand this information.
In a statement, Pate said, “we do not take the obligation to turn this information over lightly. The Department of Justice has assured us that the data will be protected appropriately under federal law, and we expect them to uphold that promise.”
Peterman told fairgoers that Pate was not required to take this action, because secretaries of state and attorneys general in other states had refused the DOJ demand for voter information. The DOJ has challenged in court the decision of 30 states to not share voter, and so far 20 of the cases have been dismissed, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. In July, the Democratic candidate filed four public records requests to obtain more information about what data Iowa provided to the DOJ.
He called for Iowans to choose a secretary of state in the 2026 general election who ensures “every eligible voter has an opportunity to cast a ballot, has an opportunity to make their voice heard, has a say in choosing the leaders who shape the future of our state and the future of our country.”
Peterman also criticized measures passed by the GOP-controlled Iowa Legislature in recent years to shorten the state’s early voting window to 20 days, saying he does not believe the shorter early voting window improved Iowa’s election system.
“The same amount of work has to be done, we have shorter amount of time to do it,” Peterman said. “Ballots need to be ready further in advance anyway, so we can apply the federal voting rules for overseas troops — so I don’t see who benefits. I don’t think it improves security, it just hinders accessibility. And I think we have to make sure that we’re focused on doing both.”
He said he was “not so naive as to believe that I can unilaterally change that on my own, but I will advocate to the Legislature to make (the early voting window) as long as we can” if elected to the office.
He also criticized a 2026 law removing the ability for a voter to confirm their identity through a fellow voter’s attestation, and would advocate for bringing back this way to confirm a person’s identity. He said there was “no evidence of fraud being committed because of attestation.”
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