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ANKENY — Two proposed amendments to the Iowa Constitution are on ballots for the 2024 general election and Statehouse leaders from both major political parties are mostly supportive of both — with one exception.
One proposal would amend the Iowa Constitution to state that 17-year-olds who turn 18 by the general election date can vote in the primary election, and tweaks current language to state that “only” U.S. citizens can vote in Iowa elections.
The other proposal would amend the Iowa Constitution to say that any Iowa lieutenant governor — even one appointed by the governor as a replacement — becomes a lieutenant governor with all the office’s authority, including by being next in the executive branch’s line of succession.
The two questions are on the back of the ballot.
Iowa Republican leaders are supportive of both proposals. And while many Iowa Democrats also support both, some have expressed reservation with the line of succession amendment.
Rep. Adam Zabner, a Democrat from Iowa City, expressed Democrats’ most prominent concern with that proposal: It would create a path for an appointed lieutenant governor to become governor without ever having been elected by Iowa voters.
During the legislative process of drafting the proposed amendment, Democrats proposed adding a requirement that an appointed lieutenant governor be confirmed by the Iowa Senate. That proposal was rejected by majority Republicans.
“I think the idea that the most powerful role in Iowa state government could go to someone who hasn’t been elected or hasn’t been confirmed by the Senate is very concerning to me,” Zabner said Tuesday. “You shouldn’t be able to become governor of Iowa after having been chosen by one person.”
The line-of-succession proposal passed the Iowa House by largely party-line votes of 63-34 in 2022 and 81-18 in 2023. It passed the Iowa Senate by votes of 46-3 in 2022 and 50-0 in 2023.
Amending the Iowa Constitution requires passage in consecutive meetings of the Iowa General Assembly — separate sessions of the Iowa Legislature separated by an election — and then a majority of Iowa voters in a general election.
Current Gov. Kim Reynolds is in the process of naming a new lieutenant governor after previous Lt. Gov. Adam Gregg resigned to take a leadership post with the Iowa Bankers Association.
If the proposed constitutional amendment passes and Reynolds resigns or becomes unable to perform the duties of governor, her newly appointed lieutenant would become governor without having been elected or on the ballot with Reynolds.
Rep. Steve Holt, a Republican from Denison, said he can appreciate the concern over the hypothetical scenario in which an individual becomes governor without having been on the ballot. However, he also said he believes the appointment by the governor who was elected represents the will of the voters.
“Yeah, I think that’s a concern. But the only thing I would say is it was the duly elected governor that selected the lieutenant governor,” Holt said. “It still respects the voters.”
Sen. Pam Jochum, a Democrat from Dubuque, noted most Senate Democrats supported both proposed amendments as they made their way through the legislative process, including the line of succession amendment.
“In 2023, Senate Democrats voted unanimously to approve both proposed amendments. Our caucus is made up of members from a wide variety of backgrounds and we, like all Iowans, approached these decisions individually,” Jochum said in a statement. “I encourage all Iowans to do the same by carefully considering each proposed amendment and making their voices heard at the ballot box next week.”
There has been little opposition among Statehouse leaders to the voting amendment. During the legislative process, that proposed amendment passed unanimously over all four votes between 2021 and 2023.
In Iowa, voting by non-U.S. citizens already is illegal. The proposed constitutional amendment would strengthen that language and prevent any future attempts by allow non-U.S. citizens to vote in local elections, according to a spokesman for a national group who was in Iowa on Tuesday to advocate for the proposed amendment.
Jack Tomczak, with Americans for Citizen Voting, said if the proposed amendment is approved by voters, neither the state nor municipalities could allow noncitizens to vote without again amending the Iowa Constitution.
Americans with legal residency who are not full U.S. citizens can vote in some local elections in 19 cities, including Oakland and San Francisco in California and Washington, D.C., according to Americans for Citizen Voting. New York City passed a measure allowing resident noncitizens to vote; that is being challenged in the courts.
The other 16 cities that allow noncitizens to vote in local elections are in Vermont and Maryland, according to Americans for Citizen Voting.
“What we’re doing has maybe less to do with election integrity and more to do with the value of citizenship,” Tomczak said Tuesday during a news conference in Ankeny. “And we feel that if you come to this country but don’t become a citizen and you get some right to vote but only in a few elections, not all of them, that that’s not good. Either be in or be out.”
Tomczak said while his group has helped write similar constitutional amendments in other states, it did not need to in Iowa because the proposal that is now on the ballot was effectively the same.
Zabner said the proposed voting amendment would not change anything in current state law and that he supports the idea that only U.S. citizens should be able to vote in Iowa elections. “For me, it seems pretty reasonable to say you should have to be a citizen to vote in elections,” he said.
Advocates for allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections say those living in the country legally, even if not full U.S. citizens, should be allowed to vote on who represents them at the local level.
Holt said he disagrees with that, and also expressed concern that allowing noncitizens to vote in local elections could open “a sort of Pandora’s Box” and lead to government bodies allowing noncitizens to vote in state or federal elections.
“I completely disagree. I think voting has to be limited to citizens, period,” Holt said.
The proposed voting amendment to the Iowa Constitution would apply only to state and local elections. Federal elections are governed by federal law, and federal law requires U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections.
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