Iowans urged not to fall for election misinformation and disinformation

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is urging Iowans not to fall victim to election misinformation and disinformation. Instead, voters should turn to trusted sources for election information, the people that run elections in Iowa: the Secretary of State and county auditors.

Secretary Pate updated the Myth vs. Fact section of his Election Security in Iowa webpage Friday morning with several more entries. A reported case of election disinformation happened in Iowa earlier this week. A voter in Mahaska County who had requested an absentee ballot reported receiving a call from an out-of-state number falsely telling him he could register his ballot over the phone and there is no need to return it to the county auditor’s office. The Mahaska County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident.

“That is a clear case of election disinformation, where someone is purposefully trying to mislead Iowa voters,” Secretary Pate said. “We have a great record of clean, fair elections in Iowa and election officials across the state are pushing back on this nonsense.”

Last week, Secretary Pate and his bipartisan Auditors Advisory Group released a joint media release about their united effort to dispel election misinformation and disinformation.

“Iowa is one of the top three states in the nation for election administration and we’re going to keep it that way by defending our process against grifters and people who want to sow doubt in our system,” Secretary Pate added. “If you have any questions about how to cast your ballot and ensure your vote counts, visit VoterReady.Iowa.gov or your county auditor’s website.”

For a detailed breakdown of many of the election security measures Iowa has in place, click here.

If you see or hear of something suspicious related to elections, call the Iowa Secretary of State at 1-888-SOS-VOTE.

A soundbite from Secretary Pate is available for your use at this link.