Congress

Evans: Lawmakers dropped the ball in not fixing recount law

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The chambers of the Iowa Senate and the Iowa House of Representatives are silent after a busy 2021 session. Lawmakers teed up bills that addressed a wide assortment of problems, real or imagined. They decided against an increase in tax revenues for the three state universities. They took away authority of local governments to impose face-mask requirements to combat current or future diseases. They made significant changes in the process for creating charter schools, which will operate with state tax money but will not face many requirements public K-12 schools must follow.

Evans: These changes won’t improve election security

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Iowa’s 2020 election was one for the record books — with 1.7 million people marking ballots. It was an impressive turnout in Iowa — with 76 percent of Iowa’s eligible voters taking part. There were no allegations of election fraud or polling place shenanigans in Iowa. No one suggested people from cemeteries were casting ballots in our state. Randy Evans
STRAY THOUGHTS

Randy Evans is the executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council.

Election 2016

Podcast: Iowa Voters Set The Stage For Election Day Decision

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In the last report of a year-long IowaWatch effort to speak with voters about what matters to them we heard frustration with how presidential candidates were address issues and, after the summer nominating conventions, presidential candidates themselves: Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump.

Election 2016

Podcast: The Voices Of Tired Voters

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Election Day on Nov. 8, 2016, marks the end of a long, long presidential campaign in Iowa, where the presidential campaign began well before the first presidential precinct caucuses in the state on Feb. 1, 2016. Given the length and tone of the campaign, are Iowa voters sick of the whole thing? A clue to the answer in this IowaWatch Connection report can be found in the title of a companion story at IowaWatch: “Iowa Voters Say They’re Tired Of Presidential Campaign, But Still Show High Interest.”