The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups filed the lawsuits Wednesday against elections officials in Linn and Johnson counties.
At issue are absentee ballot request forms that the counties are sending to registered voters with personal information already filled in, including their names, dates of birth and voting pin numbers. Voters just have to review, sign and return the forms to get ballots in October that they can mail back or drop off, avoiding crowded polling places.
Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate, a Republican, last month told auditors in an emergency election directive that request forms mailed to voters must be blank in order “to ensure uniformity.”
Pate’s office has not taken any legal action to block the two counties’ mailings but said Thursday it is investigating their actions. Pate said that sending forms pre-filled with personal identifying information will give critics of absentee voting “an opportunity to question the validity of election results in those counties.”