Culver 'Troubled' by Voting SNAFU at Iowa State
Ames Tribune

Iowa Republican Disenfranchises College Students AGAIN

Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman says she didn't anticipate the number of Iowa State University students who wanted to vote at an early voting location on campus.

Consequently, 50 to 100 potential voters were not allowed to cast their ballots at Parks Library on Thursday.

Mosiman said election officials ran low on ballots for one of the two most common precincts students fall into.

"This is a learning experience," Mosiman said. "It was a mistake only by me and nobody else. I won't make this mistake again."

Iowa law says anyone who arrives at a satellite voting station prior to the time the site is scheduled to close should be allowed to vote.

..."The auditors are required by law to provide sufficient number of ballots for satellite voting stations," Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver said at an appearance on campus. "That would be their problem, not the students', if they ran out of ballots."

...Culver said Mosiman misinterpreted state law when potential voters were told they could not vote because the polling station had closed.

It's the second time in the past two years Mosiman has misinterpreted the same election law, he said.

In October 2002, State Deputy Auditor Rob Berntsen sent Mosiman a letter after a complaint was received about early voting sites from the chair of the Story County Democratic Party, Jan Bauer.

"If this were the first incident we may or may not have handled it the same way," Culver said. "But if you look back at the record here, it is very troubling."

Culver, a Democrat, is sending a letter to Mosiman regarding the incident. In that letter, he asks Mosiman to provide him with a written explanation of what happened by noon on Wednesday.

"This is very troubling," Culver said. "This doesn't happen in Iowa. It should disturb all of us."

Mosiman, a Republican, is up for re-election on Nov. 2. She is being challenged by Jim Hutter, a Democrat.

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