Iowa's Pate Says No 2026 Potential-Noncitizen Challenge List Is Likely: The State Already Ran Its Own SAVE Check

On August 17, 2026 (date of the remarks), Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said his office is “unlikely to issue guidance” for county auditors to challenge ballots of people flagged as potential noncitizens, as it did in 2024. His reason: “we do have the access to the list, we’ve already went through the list.”

For the federal-list question, Iowa’s flagging is its own, run through state SAVE access, and the report describes no DHS or DOJ list delivered to Iowa. In 2024 the state flagged 2,176 voters; Pate said in March 2025 that 277 were confirmed noncitizens. The report also says Pate announced in May that “Iowa had decided to comply with the DOJ’s request for voter registration data,” which runs the other direction from a flagged list. “Unlikely” is an expectation, not a commitment.