State Senator Tom Courtney (D) of Burlington said Thursday that one of the key elements of the six-month review by State Auditor Mary Mosiman’s office is the recommendation that Secretary of State Schultz develop a plan to repay Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds.
Referring to the use of HAVA funds, the State Auditor’s office wrote in a letter dated December 18, 2013:
“In conducting our audits, we became aware of an aspect of the (Secretary of State) Office’s operations for which we believe corrective action is necessary.”
The review by the State Auditor also concluded that the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) does not specifically allow the Secretary of State to hire a law enforcement officer to conduct criminal investigations of Iowans. In addition, the state of Iowa’s plan for using HAVA funds does not include spending $240,000 for criminal investigations.
“The State Auditor’s six-month review provides more evidence that Iowa taxpayers are right to be troubled by Secretary of State Matt Schultz’s use of their money,” said Courtney. “Based on these new findings, I call on the Secretary of State to shut down his witch hunt and instead focus on his official duties: educating eligible Iowans on voting procedures and voting rights.”
Courtney said the legality of Schultz’s use of federal funds is separate from other concerns raised about activities in the Secretary of State’s office. This includes an on-going lawsuit regarding allegations that his investigations intimidate eligible voters, especially those who have recently become U.S. citizens, from registering to vote or going to the polls.
It is also separate from recent media reports indicating that Schultz’s multi-year investigation has resulted in only five guilty pleas for election-related offenses, none of which would have been prevented by an Iowa voter ID law.
