Iowa witnessed record voter participation in its June 3rd primary elections as a result of a provision that allowed the secretary of state to mail absentee ballots to all registered voters due to the covid-19 pandemic. The noble goal of this provision was to save Iowa voters from going into crowded polling centers which would have increased their chances of contracting the virus. Given the ease and convenience of voting by mail, Iowans voted in record numbers, much to the delight of democracy lovers. Well, it turns out republicans were not happy with the record voter participation. They quickly moved in the Iowa state legislature to prevent universal voting by mail in the November elections–a clear cut effort at voter suppression.
On 6/10/2020 a bill that prohibits Iowa’s secretary of state from mailing absentee ballots to all registered voters for the November general elections passed the Iowa state senate by a vote of 30-19. Needless to say, all the 30 state senators who voted for this voter suppression bill were republicans. Because this is one of the most brazen acts of official voter suppression to date, we have no choice but to name and shame these 30 GOP state senators using our famous “handy list”.
Here’s a handy list of the 30 shameful Iowa GOP state senators who are mad that mail-in voting allowed record voter participation in the June primary elections, and are on a mission to prevent that from happening again this November.
Amy Sinclair D14 
Annette Sweeney D25 
Brad Zaun D20 
Carrie Koelke D29 
Charles Schneider D22 
Chris Cournoyer D49 
Craig Johnson D32 
Dan Dawson D8 
Dan Zumbach D48 
Dennis Guth D4 
Jack Whitver D19 
Jake Chapman D10 
Jason Schultz D9 
Jeff Edler D36 
Jerry Behn D24 
Jim Carlin D3 
Julian B Garrett D13 
Ken Rozenboom D40 
Mariannette Miller-Meeks D41 
Mark Costello D12 
Mark Segebart D6 
Michael Breitbach D28 
Randy Feenstra D2 
Thomas A Greene D47 
Tim Kraayenbrink D5 
Tom Shipley D11 
Waylon Brown D26 
Zach Nunn D15 
Zach Whiting D1 
Roby Smith D47
Bottom line folks, there’s no longer any doubt that the unpopular policies of the republican party are increasingly turning it into a marginal/regional party. Republican party leaders have long realized that their only chance of clinging to power is to make sure as few people as possible vote, especially minorities who traditionally vote against them. Where, as here, we witness such a brazen attempt at voter suppression by elected officials, we have no otherwise but to loudly call them out.
For those of you very happy with @Emolclause’s activism don’t shy away from the “tip jar” below on your way out.
You may reach the author via email at author@grassrootsdempolitics.com or author@emolumentsclause.com