- Vote records — ballots mailed and in person — can be destroyed beginning September 3
- Investigations are just beginning into vote by mail matters and private financing of electioneering under official color in Iowa.
- Any rush to destroy creates a cloud over election integrity and the bureaucracies rushing to do so
- COMMENTS BELOW
- Email Secretary of State, Governor and legislative leadership (contact info below)
Email sent to SOS Paul Pate and Governor Reynolds
I am writing to plead that your office delay scheduled destruction of any records, electronic and paper, including administrative memos and guidances pertaining to the 2020 elections — federal, state and local — and I ask you to use your powers or auspices to call for any other office of state or county government to protect all such records as well.
Canvassing and voting integrity projects are under way in our state having been delayed by COVID and other reasons including perhaps sketchy cooperation. Records should be retained for more months in order for investigators to verify the dependability of posted results using dependable techniques and analysis not used by various jurisdictions whose mandates and techniques are typically cursory or minimal in scope.
Beyond the ease of fraudulent voting . . . given the incredible push for vote by mail in this state, including official hectoring, . . . from onesie-twosie household efforts to more organized institutional efforts all fueled by a political zeitgeist of the end justifying the means . . . that, combined with the cursory level of attention to signature verification creates the need for more diligent followup investigations. There is also the matter of investigating what is credibly seen as partisan targeting of get out the vote efforts under the color of official acts financed by outside interests. These matters require additional time to complete and the records to do so.
Confidence in the election process is critical to representative government and current canvassing processes are not adequate to assuage reasonable doubt about those processes in theory and as applied, particularly as regards mail-in voting and signature verification, but also verification of voting, eligibility issues, double voting, registration accuracy and more. Insights into all of these can be obtained when there is an open book and time to study it.
There are elements in our partisan political establishment that eat, drink, plot electoral “gaming” workarounds and loopholes that combined with local partisanship, lack of focus, overwork, naiveté, lack of leadership, complacency or laziness enable illegal activity or confuse people to participate. One or more of those is likely a factor in every county in Iowa and might be identified with a proper more thorough investigation of how much integrity and preventatives are in the system. Honest officials and employees have nothing to fear from identification of problem areas, those with law enforcement responsibilities ought to welcome help to uncover fraud.
If there is little to verifiably report after adequate investigations then confidence in Iowa’s results are substantiated. Because of high profile already substantiated charges of illegalities in violation of state laws in other states, including nearby Wisconsin involving totals that throw the veracity of the election into doubt, states with arguably more reliable processes and compliance can serve as a beacon of light with transparency and processes that hold up to serious scrutiny beyond self-affirming circular processes. If considerable fraudulent voting is uncovered whether or not it would change declared results then all ought to be concerned about vulnerabilities in the system.
A rush to destroy records at the minimal point of statutory authorization, but not a mandate to do so in September will be interpreted as a bureaucratic coverup at best.
Storage cannot possibly be a serious issue even with the coming 2022 election. I do not know the unused storage capacity for SOS but I do know that secure metal waterproof storage containers from 20 feet to 40 feet in length are readily available and rent for $120 to $240 per month.
Again, I plead that your office delay scheduled destruction of any records, electronic and paper, including administrative memos and guidances pertaining to the 2020 elections — federal, state and local — and I ask you to use your powers or auspices to call for the same to county election officials.
Sincerely,
Roger Mall
address and email
Davenport, IA 52807
Contact information for emails to Iowa officials:
SOS Paul Pate: [email protected]
Governor Reynolds and Lt Gov. Gregg: https://governor.iowa.gov/contact
Senate and House majority party leadership:
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]
