Podcasts about state paul pate

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses election law and other political news.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Thursday's first hour.

Iowa Business Report Tuesday EditionMar. 18, 2025      Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on his office's revamped website, designed to make business filings and other information easier to access.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Monday's first hour.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Wednesday's first hour.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Tuesday's third hour.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says public pressure led him to flag over two thousand Iowans as potential non-citizens. City officials say all manufactured homes for displaced Rock Valley residents should be done by Thanksgiving. And a look at the candidates in Iowa's second congressional district.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Tuesday's first hour.

Simon Conway's interview with Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate during Tuesday's first hour.

Adams County Auditor and President of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors Becky Bissell, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discuss voting issues and the administration of the upcoming general election.

Iowa Business Report Tuesday EditionJul. 30, 2024      Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on trafficking of humans and how businesses can alert authorities and stop the illegal activity.

On this edition of the Iowa Business Report: We note national Small Business Month by getting an update on area statistics and free services from Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and Lisa Shimkat, Iowa director of America's Small Business Development Centers.Another "top ten" finish for Iowa in the annual U.S. News "best states" list. And in this week's "Business Profile",  you'll hear about Landus and a new business, Conduit, from Landus CEO Matt Carstens.For more, go to totallyiowa.com and click on the "radio programs" link.    Support for the Iowa Business Report radio program and podcast comes from the Iowa Business Council, online at iowabusinesscouncil.org.         

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionMay 08, 2024   Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on the importance of small businesses to Iowa's economy.

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionDecember 27, 2023       Secretary of State Paul Pate on another record-breaking year for the number of businesses registered to operate in Iowa.

Iowa Business Report Friday EditionOctober 27, 2023       Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses initiatives tied to National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

Friday's Second Hour: Secretary of State Paul Pate on election integrity. Plus, Mike Whalen of the Iowa Machine Shed.

He's in studio to talk to Simon about election integrity and more.

A solemn vigil was held in downtown Algona on Sunday night as hundreds of area residents came together to remember the life of Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is visiting 70 Iowa schools this fall to encourage 17 year olds to register to vote now, so they're ready to cast a ballot when they turn 18. Plus, some parts of Iowa actually got a normal amount of rainfall last week.

Wednesday's (abbreviated) Third Hour: Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate and Malian Cottington, volunteer coordinator for Homeless Veteran Stand-Down, are in studio to tell Simon about an event this weekend.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I'm here with your update for August 31, 2023.According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 81 degrees on Thursday. On Thursday evening it should be clear, with a low near 52 degrees.Iowa Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds said she will not reinstate COVID-19 restrictions as hospitalizations across the state increase and cases of a new coronavirus variant prompt masking requirements and other restrictions to reemerge at some colleges and businesses in other parts of the country.In a statement issued by her office Wednesday, Reynolds said "concerned Iowans have been calling my office asking whether the same could happen here. My answer — not on my watch."In recent weeks, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations have been on the rise across the United States. This comes as the omicron variant EG. 5, recently designated as a “variant of interest” by the World Health Organization, became the newly dominant variant in the country.The World Health Organization said it has not seen evidence of an increase in the severity of illness under omicron variant EG.5, but the appearance of a new "highly mutated" variant dubbed BA.2.86 — which the Washington Post reports threatens to be the most adept yet at evading the body's immune response — has raised questions among virologists and health officials about what the coming months could hold.Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird has appealed a recent district court decision that would allow certain voting materials to be printed in languages other than English.In a statement, Bird — a Republican — said the move is an effort to “protect election integrity and defend state law.”The appeal follows a June court decision in which a district court judge ruled that county election officials could provide voters with non-English voter materials, like registration forms.“The Iowa English Language Reaffirmation Act is clear; all official documents are to be written in English — including voter registration forms,” Bird said in a statement. “We look forward to arguing our case in court to uphold the Act and secure the integrity of our elections.”The June decision overruled a long-standing interpretation of Iowa law that barred the state and counties from providing voter registration forms and other materials in languages other than English. The lawsuit was brought by the League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa against Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, the Iowa Voter Registration Commission and four county auditors.The Supreme Court will either take up the appeal or send it to the state Court of Appeals to decide.A Hiawatha man was sentenced to two and a half years in prison Monday on federal charges that he left threatening voicemail messages threatening to lynch an Arizona county election official and the Arizona Attorney GeneralMark A. Rissi, 64, pleaded guilty in April to two counts of sending a threatening interstate communication.Despite the Justice Department's request for a 24-month sentence, U.S. District Judge Dominic Lanza, a Trump nominee, sentenced Rissi to 30 months in prison.In court on Monday, Rissi's attorney, Anthony...

Friday's Third Hour: Simon chats with Libertarian Chase Oliver. Plus, Secretary of State Paul Pate.

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionAugust 09, 2023     Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on efforts to combat human trafficking through IBAT--Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking. 

Secretary of State Paul Pate & Story County Deputy Sheriff Elizabeth Quinn, Human Trafficking// Steve Nabor, Des Moines City Engineer, Grand Avenue and Locust Street, downtown// Zach Bader, Iowa Farm Bureau, Survey finds Iowans' meat, dairy preferences//

Welcome to the weekend!This is Stephen Colbert from the Gazette Digital News Desk, and I'm here with your update for Saturday, June 24th, and Sunday, June 25th, 2023.According to the National Weather Service, Saturday will see a chance of showers and thunderstorms, then showers likely and possibly a thunderstorm after 5pm. The temperature will see a high of 93 and cool to a low of 67 Saturday night with a continued chance of showers and thunderstorms. Chance of precipitation is 90%The chance of showers and thunderstorms will persist throughout Sunday, but otherwise it'll be partly sunny, with a high near 80 and cool to 64 Sunday evening as chances for showers and thunderstorms continue.Summit seeks second pipeline permit for project extensionAs reported by Jared Strong - Iowa Capital Dispatch and published on TheGazette.com, Summit Carbon Solutions this week asked the Iowa Utilities Board to set informational meetings for the expansion in Floyd and Mitchell counties in northern Iowa. A 31-mile length of pipe would connect the Absolute Energy ethanol plant near St. Ansgar to Summit's proposed pipeline network that is to span over 2,000 miles in five states.The project would carry captured carbon dioxide away from ethanol plants for underground sequestration in North Dakota.Federal officials have said such projects are crucial to meet goals for limiting greenhouse gas emissions, but opponents of Summit's pipeline worry about public safety and landowners' rights. Summit is likely to seek eminent domain to obtain easements for about 1,000 parcels of land in Iowa.Iowa schools win Carrie Chapman Catt Award for registering students to voteThe Gazette's Grace King reports Isaac Newton Christian Academy in Cedar Rapids is one of 19 schools awarded the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this year for registering at least 90 percent of their eligible students to vote. This is the fourth year the private school has earned the award.Across the state, more than 2,600 eligible high school students registered to vote this year in conjunction with the award initiative. Isaac Newton was the only school in Cedar Rapids to earn the Carrie Chapman Catt Award this year.Regina High School in Iowa City registered at least 50 percent of eligible students and received a personalized certificate from the Iowa Secretary of State.The award was create by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate in 2019 to encourage voter registration in Iowa high schools. The award is named after Carrie Chapman Catt, a famous Iowa native who was instrumental in securing passage of the 19th Amendment, granting women access to the ballot box more than 100 years ago.More lanes, new interchange coming to I-380As reported by The Gazette's Tom Barton, Iowa state transportation officials recently gave the green light to proceed with plans to widen Interstate 380 and rebuild the interchange with Wright Brothers Boulevard in Cedar Rapids.The Iowa Transportation Commission earlier this month approved the 2024-2028 Iowa Transportation Improvement Program. The non-binding planning document proposes the Iowa Department of Transportation spend $4.2 billion in state and federal funding on highway and bridge projects over the next five years.Iowa DOT commissioners proposed to delay several projects as the cost for constructing roads and bridges has risen significantly over the past year while funding has largely remained the same. But the commission did not remove any projects entirely from last year's five-year program.The five-year program proposes spending more than $3.3 billion to improve the safety and condition of existing state highways and bridges, including dedicating more than $1.3 billion of additional bridge investments.Among the projects recommended for funding include adding lanes, replacing major river...

On this edition of the Iowa Business Report: Iowa business filings continue to increase, according to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate.Two analysts suggest resolution of the U.S. debt ceiling issue is not as easy as some claim. And in this week's "Business Profile", you'll meet Jacob Schmieder of Varsity Music, Inc. in Ames.For more, go to totallyiowa.com and click on the "radio programs" link.    Presented by Advance Iowa, on line at advanceiowa.com; search for "Advance Iowa" on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well.Additional support comes from the Iowa Business Council, online at iowabusinesscouncil.org.    

Iowa Business Report Thursday EditionMay 25, 2023      Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate says the increased number of business filings in Iowa shows how strong the economy is in the state.

Hour One: AG Brenna Bird, Secretary of State Paul Pate, the Marion County Sherriff and more!

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is in studio to explain.

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionJan. 11, 2023     Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses his office's "Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking" initiative; January is national Human Trafficking Awareness Month.

Simon begins hour two talking to Iowa's Secretary of State Paul Pate about how it takes all of us to prevent human trafficking. Next, Simon speaks with an author who as come up with his predictions for 2023

There are things we can all watch for

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Veterans Day, Friday, November 11.Temperatures fell off the side of a cliff last night and kept falling until they hit freezing. According to the National Weather Service it will be sunny with a high near 35 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Friday. On Friday night it will be mostly cloudy, with a low of around 25 degrees. It will be windy, so definitely wear that coat you were already thinking of wearing. Winds of 10 to 15 mph could gust more than 20 mph.For the second time this election week, state elections officials spent Thursday dealing with an error in Linn County as the statewide counting of Iowans' votes from Tuesday's election continues with another recount ordered.In addition to a recalculation of Linn County's vote totals due to an error in the reporting of its early vote counts, partial recounts also were conducted Thursday in Warren and Des Moines counties. The partial recounts were ordered by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate after irregularities were discovered Tuesday night. In addition, on Thursday afternoon, Pate ordered an administrative recount of absentee ballots in Scott County. All election results in Iowa are considered unofficial until they are reviewed and certified by the state's canvassing board.Unofficial results in Linn County came Thursday only after a recalculation of the county's vote totals due to a second error made by the county auditor's office.According to the Secretary of State's office, Linn County reported 600 more absentee ballots than the office had actually received at the time the polls closed. The discrepancy was discovered by the Secretary of State's office, which then alerted the Linn County Auditor's Office.According to the Linn County Auditor's Office, a computer froze while the county's absentee ballot counts were being uploaded. The process was completed on a backup computer, but officials believe 600 ballots were inadvertently reported twice — once during the original attempt and again during the backup attempt.The Linn County Auditor's Office resolved the tabulation of the county's votes, and the posted results were corrected, the Secretary of State's office said. The Secretary of State's office took the opportunity to chide the county again for not following procedures it had laid out.A 16-year-old faces charges related to a shooting near Mount Mercy University and Regis Middle School last week that injured a Mount Mercy student and caused several schools to lock down.Natorian Nicholas Smith, of Cedar Rapids, faces several charges in connection to the shooting. The charges against Smith were filed Thursday, though he was already being held at the Linn County Juvenile Detention Center because of a probation violation related to the shooting, according to a Cedar Rapids police news release.Smith was reportedly involved in an exchange of gunfire just before 4 p.m. Nov. 3 near the intersection of K Avenue and Elmhurst Drive NE, police said.A Mount Mercy cross-country runner was on his way to practice and got caught in the crossfire. He was shot in his right forearm, a non-life threatening injury, according to the criminal complaint.Police collected video surveillance that showed an exchange of gunfire between three people in a silver Chevy Cruze and two people on foot. Investigators found more than 20 shell casings in the area and found a car, a house and a garage had each been struck by bullets, the news release said.A police K-9 led officers to 1300 Oakland Rd., a few blocks from the shooting, where they made contact with Smith. A search warrant...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Thursday, November 10.There will be one more day in the 70s Thursday, but it won't be the sunny and calm day Wednesday was. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance for showers and thunderstorms Thursday in the Cedar Rapids area beginning at 11 a.m. and increasing as the day goes on, with the highest likelihood for rain coming around 4 pm. The temperature will peak at 72 degrees around 11 a.m., but will drop to 61 degrees later on, foreshadowing the 40 degree drop we will see by Friday. It will be windy all day, with 15 mph winds gusting as high as 30 mph.In what could be the first test of a state law that holds county auditors criminally liable for election malfeasance, the Iowa Secretary of State's Office said it is investigating the Linn County Auditor's Office over a ballot error in a Linn County precinct.The error came to light the same day that Democratic Linn County Auditor Joel Miller tried — unsuccessfully — to unseat Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate in Tuesday's election.The Linn County Supervisor District 1 race was missing from one of the “ballot styles” in the Putnam Township area, but it was on other ballots in Ely, which is in the area, and elsewhere in the district. Miller acknowledged the error during a news conference and said no other races on the ballot were affected.Secretary of State Office Communications Director Kevin Hall said Wednesday that the error could be “an apparent technical violation of Iowa's election laws.”“If it is determined the apparent violation constitutes or may constitute election misconduct, we will refer the matter to the Attorney General and Linn County Attorney as required by Iowa law,” Hall said.Under a law passed by the Iowa Legislature last year, county auditors can face felony charges for failing to follow guidance from the secretary of state. An auditor may face a fine of up to $10,000 for a technical infraction of state election law or failure to follow guidance from the secretary of state.Adding to the hundreds of millions in new construction, renovations and expansions already planned or underway across its Johnson County campuses, the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics this week wants state Board of Regents approval to spend another $16 million upgrading its main Iowa City location.One $8 million project going before the board Wednesday would, if approved, allow the main campus to convert the second level of its south wing into 13 inpatient rooms — addressing a key capacity concern at the UIHC, which regularly sits above 90 percent occupancy of its 658 adult inpatient beds.Although a 10-year UI master facilities plan the board OK'd in January didn't specifically mention the $8 million south wing conversion, this week's UIHC request for board approval notes the master plan “included this project.”The UIHC plans to use patient-generated revenue to pay for the south wing conversion, aimed at taking from spring 2023 to spring 2024 to construct.The projects come as the UIHC continues to face capacity issues, which it hopes to address in part with a new $525.6 million hospital campus in North Liberty currently under construction.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate sits down with GOPAC Executive Director Jessica Curtis to discuss what motivates him, the midterms, and a lot more. Don't miss it!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Tuesday, September 27. Tuesday's weather will be sunny and cool. According to the National Weather Service, there will be a high of 64 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area. There will be a wind of 5 to 15 that could gust as high as 20 mph. Tuesday night it will be clear, with a low of around 32 degrees. The wind will calm as Tuesday comes to an end. In an emotional meeting Monday, the Cedar Rapids school board accepted Shttps://www.thegazette.com/k/cedar-rapids-superintendent-noreen-bush-to-resign-after-2022-23-school-year/ (uperintendent Noreen Bush's resignation )effective June 30, 2023. Bush, who went on medical leave last week, will remain superintendent during her medical leave and through June 30, 2023. She was diagnosed with cancer about two and a half years ago. “I absolutely love our district,” Bush said via Zoom video during the meeting. “I absolutely love serving as superintendent. And so it comes with a heavy heart to ask for the acceptance of my resignation … My greatest hope is I have an unbelievable miracle land in my lap, and on June 30, I am able to exit as superintendent and still serve (the district), perhaps back in the classroom.” Continuing her career in education as a teacher or principal would “fill my heart with joy,” Bush said. For now, Bush said she is deciding to focus on her health and her family as she continues her cancer battle. A NASA spacecraft rammed an asteroid Monday in a test run for the day a killer rock menaces Earth. According to the Associated Press, NASA tested the asteroid ramming technique on a harmless asteroid 7 million miles away, with a spacecraft named Dart plowing into the space rock at 14,000 mph. Scientists expected the impact to carve out a crater, hurl streams of rocks and dirt into space and, alter the asteroid's orbit. Though the impact was immediately obvious it will be days or even weeks to determine how much the asteroid's path was changed. https://apnews.com/article/astronomy-space-exploration-science-asteroids-ee5f1594906d9666d0bee18209666102 (The $325 million mission) was the first attempt to shift the position of an asteroid or any other natural object in space. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is warning that voters should be on the lookout for election misinformation after an Iowa voter reportedly received a phone call with incorrect voting instructions. According to the Iowa Capitol Dispatch, Pate's office was told last week that a Mahaska County voter received a call from an out-of-state number. The caller told him he did not need to return his absentee ballot to his county auditor's office but could just register his vote over the phone. Voting over the phone is not possible, and as the voter had not requested an absentee ballot, he refused and reported the incident. The Mahaska County Sheriff's Office is investigating the call. Pate asked Iowans who have received similar calls to contact his office at (515) 281-0145. 

A Des Moines man has been convicted of charges that he led a crowd of rioters in chasing a U.S. Capitol police officer up a staircase and accosting other officers on Jan. 6, 2021. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is urging Iowans to take steps to protect themselves against election disinformation. Plus, the booming craft beer industry is driving farmers in the Midwest to grow hops for their local beer makers.

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is urging Iowans to apply to be poll workers in this fall's elections. 900 Iowans who took out federal student loans to attend the now-shuttered for-profit ITT Technical Institute are off the hook for re-payment. Plus, while parts of Iowa saw up to two inches of rain earlier this week, it may be too little, too late for many of the state's crops.

This is John McGlothlen with The Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Monday, August 15th. According to the National Weather Service, today in the Cedar Rapids area we can expect mostly cloudy skies, with a high near 78. Winds from the east around 5 mph. And tonight, we'll have a 30 percent chance of showers, mainly after 1 a.m. and a low around 62. A suspect in a Nebraska double homicide was arrested after barricading himself inside an Iowa church on Sunday. West Des Moines Police Sgt. Jason Heintz said 27-year-old Gage Walter of Omaha ultimately surrendered and was arrested after several hours of negotiating with authorities from inside the church in Winterset, Iowa. Heintz said Walter fled when police tried to pull him over in West Des Moines Sunday morning and led officers on a chase for about 45 minutes before abandoning his vehicle and entering St. Paul Lutheran Church. Walter is a suspect in the deaths of two women, whose bodies were found Saturday inside an Omaha home. Police called their deaths suspicious, but didn't release details of how they died. Investigators were searching for a car stolen from the home where the bodies were found. Linn County Auditor Joel Miller, in campaigning Saturday at the Iowa State Fair, said he's running for secretary of state to “make voting easy again.” Miller said advocating for laws that make in-person and absentee voting easier would be his prime focus as secretary of state, the top elections official in the state. He criticized current Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, for not opposing legislation that opponents said curtailed voting rights. Iowa Republicans passed a wide-ranging voting law in 2021 that cut the state's early voting period from 29 days to 20. The law also made general election polls close an hour earlier, required absentee ballots to arrive to county auditors by the end of Election Day no matter their postmark, and limited the options for county auditors to facilitate early and satellite voting. Proponents of the law said it was an effort to enhance election security. –

Recently I had the opportunity to sit down with the Secretary of State for Iowa, Paul Pate to talk business. We were at the recent 80th Birthday Party for News/Talk 1450 KXEL and I wanted to know more about how the Secretary of State's Office assists businesses, what changes he has made to the office and talk about the astounding number of LLC's that have registered in just one year.  Also, a remember that you can hook up with us all day on Twitter @IOB_NewsHour and on Instagram. Here now is Iowa Secretary of State, Paul Pate:  Thanks for listening! The award winning Insight on Business the News Hour with Michael Libbie is the only weekday business news podcast in the Midwest. The national, regional and some local business news along with long-form business interviews can be heard Monday - Friday. You can subscribe on PlayerFM, Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or TuneIn Radio. And you can catch The Business News Hour Week in Review each Sunday Noon on News/Talk 1540 KXEL. The Business News Hour is a production of Insight Advertising, Marketing & Communications. You can follow us on Twitter @IoB_NewsHour. 

On this edition of the Iowa Business Report: Electronic filing for business has advanced greatly in the past few years...and soon, fees for those filings will be rolled back. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate provides details.The Iowa legislature adjourned this past week; we review items of interest to business.And in this week's "Business Profile", we speak with Chris Hawkins of Hawkins Construction about their efforts to help employees maintain purchasing power in light of inflation.For more, go to totallyiowa.com and click on the "radio programs" link.    Presented by Advance Iowa, on line at advanceiowa.com; search for "Advance Iowa" on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well.Additional support comes from the Iowa Business Council, online at iowabusinesscouncil.org.

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionMay 25, 2022      Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on the evolution of electronic business filings.

On this edition of Iowa Press, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses the upcoming primary elections and other voting-related issues.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Wednesday, April 6. So this is another good news, bad news weather forecast. I'll start with the bad news because that's coming the next few days. According to the National Weather Service there will be a chance of rain again on Wednesday, primarily after 1 p.m. Clouds will increase as the day goes on, with a high of 52 degrees. It will also become breezy, with wind gusts as high as 30 mph possible. The overall chance of rain on Wednesday will be 40 percent. Then it will get even colder on Thursday, and there will be a chance of rain and potentially snow again Thursday night. Now the good news is that temperatures should bump up by the weekend, and I am seeing highs in the upper 60s by early next week.  A bill to safeguard residents of mobile home parks against rapid rent and fee increases, and well as adding protections against evictions, passed the Iowa House on Tuesday night despite criticism it had become too watered down to help tenants much. The bill passed Tuesday includes provisions recommended by the Iowa Attorney General and some that were included in legislation approved by the House with bipartisan support two years ago — only to die on the last day of that legislative session. HF 2562 would extend several protections for residents of mobile home parks, such as cancellation of rental agreements, rent and utility increases, and protection from retaliation for complaints against the owner or landlord. It also would require all sales of homes from the park owner be in writing, and include detailed information about the cost and payments. The legislation is in response to the purchases of mobile home parks around Iowa by venture capitalists and real estate investment trusts that can make what was affordable housing unattainable for people who have lived in the parks many years. These out-of-state purchases date back years in Iowa, but in 2019 inspired louder opposition from park residents. Support came from some Iowa lawmakers after companies announced sharp lot rent increases and higher utilities charges, but Republicans had balked on adding any protections until this year. Iowa elections officials are hoping for the prompt resolution of a challenge to Abby Finkenauer's U.S. Senate nomination paperwork that will determine whether she will be on the primary ballot. A hearing is scheduled Wednesday in Polk County District Court on the https://www.thegazette.com/campaigns-elections/iowa-republicans-ask-judge-to-overturn-state-panel-decision-knock-finkenauer-off-ballot/ (challenge) brought by two Iowa Republicans asking that a state panel's decision to accept the Democratic hopeful's nominating paperwork be overturned, a move that would result in Finkenauer being taken off the ballot. In the meantime, county auditors who oversee elections are being advised to proceed with preparing and proofing ballots for the June 7 primary “all the way up to the point of giving your vendor the go-ahead to print,” said Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Secretary of State Paul Pate. The Republican court challenge arose from the decision by the State Objection Panel to accept Finkenauer's ballot petitions despite questions about some signatures on her paperwork. As a U.S. Senate candidate, Finkenauer was required by state law to acquire at least 3,500 signatures, including at least 100 signatures each in at least 19 counties. The ACLU of Iowa is urging Coralville and three other cities in the state to repeal their ordinances against panhandling, saying the measures violate free speech rights. The organization https://www.aclu-ia.org/en/press-releases/aclu-cautions-four-iowa-cities-about-unconstitutional-panhandling-ordinances (sent letters) Tuesday to the cities of Coralville, Davenport, Dubuque and Bettendorf, saying their ordinances are both unconstitutional and ineffective. With local rules “criminalizing poverty, all they do is...

Iowa Business Report Wednesday EditionFebruary 23, 2022      Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate about the new "fast track filing resource center" for business, which was launched earlier this month. 

On this edition of the Iowa Business Report: The final part of our quartet of conversations about innovation in business with Paul Kinghorn of Advance Iowa.Iowa Speaker of the House Pat Grassley talks about the role state government should play in enhancing business opportunities in Iowa.Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate has information on the new IBAT-Iowa Businesses Against Trafficking program, to help stop human trafficking in Iowa.And in this week's "Business Profile", we hear about the state's first employee-owned worker coop with Maxwell Westlake of Morning Bell Coffee Roasters in Ames.For more, go to totallyiowa.com and click on the "radio programs" link.    Presented by Advance Iowa, on line at advanceiowa.com; search for "Advance Iowa" on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well.Additional support comes from the Iowa Business Council, online at iowabusinesscouncil.org. 

Iowa Business Report Friday EditionJanuary 14, 2022  Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on the new "Iowa Business Against Trafficking" effort announced this week.

On this edition of the Iowa Business Report: An update on the Midwest economy and the holiday shopping outlook from Creighton University economist Dr. Ernie Goss.Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses increased new business filings in Iowa.And in this week's "Business Profile", we meet Lisa Ossian, manager of the Book Vault independent bookstore in Oskaloosa.For more, go to totallyiowa.com and click on the "radio programs" link.    Presented by Advance Iowa, on line at advanceiowa.com. Search for "Advance Iowa" on LinkedIn and Facebook, as well.

The first of three public hearings about new proposed boundaries for Iowa's legislative and congressional districts is scheduled for Monday evening. IPR State Government reporter Katarina Sostaric breaks down what it means. Hospitals across the country are seeing a spike in unvaccinated pregnant women with COVID-19 including in Iowa. Plus, two Democrats have announced they're running to unseat Republican Secretary of State Paul Pate in 2022.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for Friday, March 26th. The rain from Thursday will continue into Friday. According to the National Weather Service, it will be cloudy with a high of 55 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area on Friday. There will be an 80 percent chance of rain throughout the day. The forecast does have the rain stopping by Saturday, with the temperature also picking up a bit in time for the weekend as well. Two Linn County residents — one a husband, father and volunteer firefighter and the other a nurse, avid gardener and aunt — are being remembered after an attack claimed their lives Tuesday at the Anamosa State Penitentiary. Correctional Officer Robert McFarland, 46, of Ely, and registered nurse Lorena Schulte, 50, of Cedar Rapids, were bludgeoned to death with hammers by two inmates in a failed attempt to escape, investigators said. The suspects, Michael Dutcher, 28, and Thomas Woodard, 39, https://dps.iowa.gov/sites/default/files/criminal-investigation/Press%20Release-Local%20Agenciews/Anamosa%20State%20Penitentiary/Dutcher%20and%20Woodard%20Charges.pdf (each have been charged) with two counts of first-degree murder, second-degree kidnapping and attempted murder. They made their initial court appearances Thursday afternoon through a virtual hearing from the Iowa State Penitentiary in Fort Madison, where they were transferred after the https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/public-safety/anamosa-iowa-prison-employees-death-mourn-news-conference-20210324 (grisly attack using tools checked out from the prison under the ruse of doing repair work.) The night Tyler S. Lee drove the wrong way on Interstate 380, crashing into a northbound sport utility vehicle, his blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint, filed earlier this month in Linn County District Court, said Lee's blood-alcohol level was 0.164 after the crash that killed 23-year-old David Nguyen in the other vehicle. Other passengers were injured in the accident and required treatment.  The criminal complaint said responding officers found Lee, sitting “behind the wheel of a Ford pickup truck,” displaying “obvious signs of insobriety.” He now faces two vehicular homicide charges — one related to driving while drunk and the other for reckless driving. He also faces two counts of causing serious injury by motor vehicle.  Lee was also out on bond at the time of the accident in connection to a fatal shooting in Illinois. Iowa Republicans continued a GOP-pressure campaign Thursday, casting a U.S. House review of an incredibly close congressional election in Iowa's 2nd District as a partisan power grab to pad Democrats' narrow 219-211 majority in the House. The news conference held by Republicans Thursday featured Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, and the head of the Iowa Republican Party. Jeff Kaufmann. You get the impression they may be worried about the result of the review, as the press conference was in addition to the process being already denounced by Republicans in Congress, both Iowa Senators, and, of course, the candidate who was narrowly declared the winner, Marionette Miller-Meeks and her campaign. Miller-Meeks was seated as the provisional winner after the results were certified, her current lead stands at just 6 votes. Her challenger, Rita Hart, argues that 22 ballots were legally cast in the district but not counted, because of errors by election workers. Had the 22 ballots been tallied, Hart argues she would have won by nine votes. This briefing is sponsored in part by Corridor Careers. Are you looking for a job? https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com) is a resource to local job seekers where they can get job tips, sign up for local job alerts, build a resume and more. Check it out at https://www.corridorcareers.com/ (CorridorCareers.com). Be sure to subscribe to The Gazette...

Good morning! This is Katie Brumbeloe with The Gazette digital newsdesk, and here's your daily update for Dec. 1.  Nearly four weeks after the election,https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowa-us-house-race-mariannette-miller-meeks-wins-6-votes-rita-hart-district-2-20201130 ( Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks was declared the official winner) Monday of Iowa's 2nd Congressional District race by just six votes. It's the closest congressional race in the country and it flips a seat that's been held by Democrats for 14 years. The state canvassing board Monday certified results for the race following recounts in all 24 counties in the southeastern Iowa district. Miller-Meeks, a state senator from Ottumwa, edged out Democrat and former state Sen. Rita Hart of Wheatland, with 196,964 votes to Hart's 196,958. The Hart campaign has not said if it will mount a legal challenge. The Associated Press is expected to wait until after all legal appeals are exhausted before declaring a winner in the race. Monday's canvassing results also determined that https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/iowas-2020-election-officially-a-record-breaker-with-17m-votes-cast-20201130 (more than 1.7 million Iowans cast ballots) — a majority by absentee or early voting — to mark the highest turnout in Iowa's electoral history. Nearly 76 percent of the eligible adults voted, one of the highest participation rates in the nation, according to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. Voter turnout was 1,700,130, compared to the previous high of 1,589,951 set in 2012. More than 1 million Iowans cast absentee ballots, another state record that accounted for 58.9 percent of all ballots. Monday's results also officially declared President Donald Trump Iowa's winner in the presidential race, giving him Iowa's six electoral votes when the Electoral College meets Dec. 14. Unofficially, Joe Biden has garnered more electoral votes nationwide to claim the office effective Jan. 20. https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-covid-deaths-coronavirus-cases-deadliest-month-november-20201130 (November was the deadliest month for COVID-19 in Iowa.) 688 Iowans were killed by the virus, according to data analyzed by The Gazette. October was the second-deadliest month with 372 deaths. The state reported 28 new deaths on Monday, for a total of 2,403 Iowans dead because of COVID-19 since the pandemic began. November also brought the highest number of cases in a month, adding 101,574 COVID-19 cases, almost doubling the state's total and bringing it to 229,019. The month with the second-highest number of cases was again October with 38,883.  Iowa reported 1,222 new cases on Monday. Three of the last four days have seen fewer than 5,000 test results, likely because of the long holiday weekend.  Unionized state workers on the “front line” of the COVID-19 pandemic at state prisons, colleges and other institutions https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/government/afscme-61-iowa-collective-bargaining-pay-increase-20201130 (are seeking a 3 percent annual pay raise) in light of the sacrifices they've made, a top public union leader said Monday at the start of new contract talks. Danny Homan, president of American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 61, sat down with state negotiators Monday on a Zoom call to open contract talks aimed at reaching a new labor agreement beginning July 1. He requested the across-the-board wage increase for each of the next two fiscal years. The union represents roughly 19,000 members that includes nurses, corrections officers, university employees and transportation workers, among other public employees. The current state contract provides base wage increases of 2.1 percent that runs through the end of the fiscal year in June. The state's  collective bargaining team is expected to make its opening offer later this month before moving into closed-door talks aimed at...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for the weekend of November 7 and November 8. The next three days are predicted to be the last three nice weather days before we crash back to colder and sometimes rainy weather. So try and enjoy it while you can. According to the National Weather Service, it should be sunny with a high near 73 degrees Saturday in the Cedar Rapids area. It will be somewhat windy, with winds of 10 to 15 mph gusting as high as 30 mph. On Saturday night it will be mostly clear with a low around 55 degrees and the wind calming a bit. Sunday then is predicted to be quite similar, mostly sunny with a high near 74 degrees and again moderate breeziness. On Sunday night there will be a low of 60 degrees, with partly cloudy skies and a low of around 60 degrees.  As of Saturday morning we still do not have a formal declaration for the next President of the United States, but trends seem to be pointing to that being resolved perhaps sometime this weekend. As mail-in ballots continue to be counted, former Vice President Joe Biden continued to gain ground in Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Nevada, while holding on to a vote majority in Arizona. Biden would need either a win in Pennsylvania or a combination of the other three states to reach the presidency, while incumbent President Donald Trump would need to reverse his fortunes dramatically to win the election.  This current state of the vote count was reflected in the approach of both campaigns Friday, with President Trump issuing a statement that he would challenge the voting results in several states and former Vice President Joe Biden saying in a televised speech that he would win the election and emphasizing the need for reconciliation after the votes are finally counted. Speaking of counting in a close election, there will be a recount in an Iowa congressional race with razor thin margins. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said Friday that 19,000 ballots will be recounted, including nearly 600 by hand in one precinct, in Iowa's 2nd Congressional District election, before the race can be certified next week. Republican Marianette Miller-Meeks ended the night on election night with a lead of 282 with all precincts reporting. However, after a voting error was corrected in Jesup County, Democrat Rita Hart led with 162 votes prior to the recount. Iowa's coronavirus numbers continue their worrying upward trajectory, a trend being seen across the country as well. Iowa on Friday reported more than 900 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Iowa — the 12th consecutive record-breaking day for coronavirus hospitalizations in the state. As of 11 a.m. Friday, 912 Iowans were in the hospital, with 164 of them admitted in the previous 24 hours. The number of patients in intensive care remained at 88, a record. Patients on ventilators to help them breathe increased from 60 to 67. Statewide, 3,393 new COVID-19 cases were reported Friday, the second-highest total since the pandemic began, only behind Thursday's record of 4,706 cases. Jones County is reporting a sudden spike in cases, as the state penitentiary in Anamosa reported 476 COVID-19 cases for inmates and 37 for staffers. The Anamosa School District has decided to go from in person learning to online only, due to the increased infection rate in the county. A 2-year-old child was injured in an accidental shooting Friday afternoon at the Lindale Mall in Cedar Rapids. According to the Cedar Rapids Police Department, a preliminary investigation into the incident indicates an accidental discharge from a firearm struck the boy. He is related to the person who had possession of the firearm, police said. Officials said the boy suffered a non-life-threatening gunshot wound to the forearm and was taken to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City for treatment. Public safety spokesman Greg Buelow said the incident occurred inside the mall near Sweetopia

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for November 5. Almost as if it is apologizing for October's unseasonably cold weather, November is producing some of the best weather of the year so far. According to the National Weather Service, the day should start partly sunny in the Cedar Rapids area before getting gradually sunnier, with a high of 73 degrees. A light breeze of 5 mph should blow throughout the day. The low is expected to be 44 degrees, with clear skies. Iowa's 2020 election was one for the record books. Secretary of State Paul Pate said Iowans broke the all-time turnout record for a general election in the state. More than 1,697,000 Iowans voted, easily surpassing the previous state record of 1,589,951 set in 2012, according to unofficial results.  More than a million Iowans voted absentee, another record. As of Wednesday morning, 1,001,840 absentee ballots were received by county auditors. Absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by noon Nov. 9 will be counted. Almost all of the races in an election dominated by Republicans in Iowa have been conceded, but one incredibly close one remains unsettled.  Republican state Sen. Mariannette Miller-Meeks pulled off what appeared to be an incredibly tight win for an open southeast Iowa U.S. House race, leading by 282 votes with 100 percent of precincts reporting. She is competing against Democrat Rita Hart for an open seat once filled by seven time incumbent Democrat Dave Loebsack. However, with thousands of absentee ballots still outstanding, the race still remains in the balance. If the margin remains this close, it is likely that whichever candidate ends up behind in the final vote tally will request a recount. There are no small margins at the Iowa Statehouse, where state Republicans expanded their already sizable leads. Iowa House Speaker Pat Grassley said he believes Republicans earned a mandate Tuesday from voters who not only preserved the GOP's control over the state lawmaking agenda but also expended the party's majority in his chamber. Grassley emphasized that this would include the fiscally conservative approach to the state budget. He did not predict what policy topics Republicans may address when they return in January to the Iowa Capitol or the 2021 legislative session, which for the fifth consecutive year will operate under full Republican control. Finally, Iowa's COVID-19 cases continue to grow, and few solutions have been offered up in the last month by Iowa's government to slow the spread. The state on Wednesday reported 2,832 new COVID-19 cases, the second highest number of new cases in a 24-hour period since Oct. 30. Hospitalizations continued to climb as well, with 777 Iowans being treated in Iowa's hospitals as of 11 a.m. Wednesday. That is a record, for the 10th day in a row. The number of patients being treated in intensive care units increased from 170 to 182, and those requiring ventilators to help them breathe rose from 59 to 63. Twenty-five deaths were reported, a total that ties with May 22 as Iowa's second-most deadly day. Only Oct. 20 had more deaths reported: 32.

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for November 3. There will be some nice weather to go out and cast your vote today. According to the National Weather Service, it will be 68 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area with a mild wind slowly becoming a bit breezy as the afternoon goes on. Tuesday night should be clear with a high of around 45 degrees. It is election day, so let's talk about the election first. Whatever happens with the vote today,  a record number of Iowans have been registered to vote heading into the 2020 general election, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate announced on Monday. According to Pate, Iowa has 2,095,581 active registered voters. Here are the breakdowns by party registration: there are 719,591 registered Republicans, 699,001 Democrats, 659,488 independents who declare no political party affiliation and 17,501 classified as other registrants. The previous high in voter registrations came in the months following the 2016 general election, according to Pate. And there is a good sign that every one of those votes could be important. If polling is to be believed, the presidential election, the battle for one of Iowa's senate seats, and 3 of Iowa's 4 congressional seats are all expected to be heavily competitive, along with close battles at the Iowa Statehouse level.  As of Monday morning, 43 percent of Iowa's registered voters had already cast their ballots. Although there was no telling what those nearly one million voters have decided, 45 percent were cast by Democrats, 33 percent by Republicans and 21 percent by no-party voters. Republicans are expected to vote in a higher proportion on election day. Stay safe out there and wear a mask, because every day Iowa is also setting records for COVID-19 infections. More than 700 Iowans were being treated for COVID-19 in hospitals across the state as of Monday, the highest number seen in Iowa since the start of the pandemic. According to data from the Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa hospitals were treating 718 COVID-19 patients as of 11 a.m. Monday, setting a record for the eighth straight day. At the same time, intensive care unit patients dropped from 164 to 156, while the number of patients on ventilators jumped from 53 to 57. Linn County saw 47 coronavirus-related hospitalizations as of Saturday, the most recent data available — a record high for the county's hospitals. On Monday, the Anamosa Community School District announced it would be transitioning all in-person schooling to online Continuous Learning for the next two weeks due to the high positivity rate in Jones County.

This is The Gazette Daily News Briefing for Friday, Oct. 30, 2020: The number of people being treated for COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals set another record Thursday https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-hospitalizations-increase-white-house-red-zone-20201029 (for the fourth day in a row) as federal public health officials again urged the state to more aggressively respond to the worsening threat. By Thursday morning, 605 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 — more than at any time since the disease was confirmed in the state in March. A White House task force report said that 97 percent of Iowa is now in a hot zone, measured by the number of cases per capita and the percentage of tests that confirm the infection. The task force said that as of Sunday, 56 of Iowa's 99 counties were in the worst “red zone” of danger. The state Thursday also reported another 2,468 new COVID-19 cases bringing Iowa's total cases to nearly 122,000. Of those, Linn County reported 193 — a record high for the county by far.  https://www.thegazette.com/subject/news/health/iowa-coronavirus-cases-covid-19-hospitalizations-surge-20201029 (The situation in Iowa is critical, said epidemiologist Dr. Jorge Salinas.) He's a leading infection control specialist at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics. It's likely the state's hospitals will be overrun with sick patients “very soon,” he said https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=759710141275083&ref=watch_permalink (in a Facebook Live video) Thursday.  Both Cedar Rapids hospitals have reported an unusually large number of admissions over the past few days but emphasized that hospitals are still equipped to handle other patient care. Iowa's top elections official wants Iowans to feel confident in their ability to vote safely and securely in this election. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate delivered that message of reassurance to Iowa voters at a Thursday news conference at the State Emergency Operations Center at Camp Dodge along with state and federal law enforcement and emergency management leaders. Pate said his office is working with state and federal partners to strengthen Iowa's election security and infrastructure, and prepare for any kind of situation that might arise on Election Day.  With early voting underway and Tuesday's election less than a week away, election-related concerns include hacking attempts, disinformation campaigns by hostile foreign countries, and the avalanche of absentee ballots cast before Election Day. Pate said his office has been working with multiple state and federal officials, as well as the auditors in Iowa's 99 counties to ensure a safe and secure election. Iowa City leaders worry a population undercount in the U.S. Census will slash federal funding to the growing community. When counting for the 2020 census wrapped up earlier this month, just over 68 percent of Iowa City's estimated population had responded to the national head count, well below the nearly 76 percent response rate in the 2010 census, thehttps://www.censushardtocountmaps2020.us/?latlng=41.64707%2C-91.50658&z=12&query=coordinates%3A%3A41.66111%2C-91.52710&promotedfeaturetype=cities&arp=arpRaceEthnicity&baselayerstate=-1&infotab=info-rtrselfresponse&filterQuery=false ( U.S. Census Bureau reported.) Iowa's other state college towns also were below expected counts. https://www.censushardtocountmaps2020.us/?latlng=42.02586%2C-93.59359&z=12&query=coordinates%3A%3A42.02660%2C-93.61897&promotedfeaturetype=cities&arp=arpRaceEthnicity&baselayerstate=-1&infotab=info-rtrselfresponse&filterQuery=false (Ames), home to Iowa State University, had a self-response rate of 68 percent, compared with nearly 78 percent in 2010,...

This is Stephen Schmidt from the Gazette digital news desk and I'm here with your update for October 22. A week that started with snow has transitioned in thunderstorms. Very on brand for Iowa's weather. According to the National Weather Service, it should warm up to a high of 72 degrees in the Cedar Rapids area Thursday, the warmest day of the week. You might not notice this, however, as it will likely be raining in fits and starts Thursday morning, Thursday afternoon and Thursday evening. The rain should continue until a bit after noon Friday, at which point the cold will begin to return. More patients were being treated for COVID-19 in Iowa hospitals — and more people in the state died from the disease — in a 24-hour period ending Wednesday than since the novel coronavirus was confirmed here over seven months ago. The surge in hospitalizations in Iowa and several other states is troubling to public health officials not only because it raises concerns over the availability of beds and equipment, but because the rising number of patients indicates that mitigation efforts are lacking. Iowa set a record of 534 hospitalizations in a 24-hour period ending at 11 a.m. Wednesday. That eclipsed a record set in the 24-hour period just the day before. In addition, Iowa public health officials reported a record of 32 COVID-19 deaths in the 24-hour period, with deaths spanning 20 Iowa counties. New polls released this week from Monmouth University and Emerson College both showed statistical ties both in the presidential race, between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and the senatorial race, between Theresa Greenfield and incumbent, Joni Ernst. Emerson's poll had Trump and Ernst both slightly ahead, but within the margin of error, and the Monmouth poll showed ties in both raises, while giving Biden and Greenfield the nod for victory in certain turnout models. Both polls had margins of error of approximately 5 points. Early voting is already underway in Iowa. Election Day is Nov. 3, just 12 days away The Iowa Supreme Court, in a narrow 4-3 decision Wednesday, let a state law stand that bars county auditors from filling out voters' personal information on absentee ballot request forms. In issuing their opinion, the majority of state justices said challengers to a state law — which was pushed through by the Republican-controlled Legislature in the final hours of the 2020 session — offered no evidence that provisions of House File 2643 will deny any Iowan the right to vote absentee.However, three dissenting justices argued the majority decision failed to take into account the historic COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on county auditors' ability to keep up with record-breaking requests for absentee ballots while addressing issues of missing or incorrect information. Voters have until Saturday to supply their county auditors with the needed information to request an absentee ballot. But auditors now are not allowed to use the voter registration system to correct applications as they have before. The League of Latin American Citizens of Iowa, or LULAC, Iowa's largest Latino civil rights organization, and Majority Forward, a national nonprofit that supports voter registration, had asked a judge to stop Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate from enforcing the new law, arguing it made voting more difficult.

Republican groups are asking the Iowa Supreme Court today to stay a judge's ruling blocking the enforcement of a state order. That order has been used to invalidate tens of thousands of absentee ballot requests. The Republican National Committee, President Trump's campaign, and other GOP groups said that Iowa's election administration could be thrown into "chaos" if the ruling stands. At issue is yesterday's ruling by Judge Robert Hanson. Hanson's ruling would block Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate from enforcing his directive requiring counties to mail blank absentee ballot applications to voters instead of pre-filled with personal information. Woodbury, Johnson, and Linn Counties sent out those pre-filled ballots. Hanson said the directive would harm the public's interest in making voting by mail as easy as possible during the coronavirus pandemic. Courts have invalidated pre-filled absentee ballot applications that were mailed to more than 200,000 voters in three counties. Another

Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate discusses an award given to Pella Christian High School for registering eligible students to vote, and the upcoming November election.

Coming up on The Exchange, a Woodbury County judge last week invalidated more than 50 thousand prefilled absentee ballot request forms about sixty days out from the November election, after a lawsuit filed by the GOP and President Trump's campaign. The plaintiffs argue that Secretary of State Paul Pate decreed that only unpopulated absent ballot requests could be sent out.

Woodbury County Auditor Pat Gill reports confusion at the polls today in a Special Election to fill an opening on the Board of Supervisors. Gill says as of 11 this morning, 184 people cast their ballots in person at a total of 7 polling spots in District 2. However, almost the same amount of people have showed up to vote, forgetting they already filled out an absentee ballot for the same election. The Special Election was originally set for April 14 th and Gill says more than 10,000 people requested absentee ballots and more than 8,000 were returned over the next several weeks. Secretary of State Paul Pate then moved the election to July 7 th because of the COVID-19 concerns. Gill says he told Pate not to move the election because he felt it would cause massive voter confusion because of the primary in June. Gill says phones have been ringing off the hook at his office as precinct election officials have been calling as voters arrived to the polls discovered they already cast absentee

The Iowa Secretary of State's office is responsible for business recordings and filings. Increasingly, those have been available electronically. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate spoke with Jeff Stein of the Iowa Business Report in the Secretary's office in the state capitol in downtown Des Moines on January 11, 2020.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has said he would like Nebraska to enact a Voter ID law. We spoke to Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate about Iowa's new Voter ID law that went into full effect as of January 1st.

Secretary of State Paul Pate explains why he believes that Iowa's voter ID system won't face the same scrutiny we've been seeing down south