All 99 counties in Iowa will audit two of the races following the 2022 midterms, Iowa’s Secretary of State office announced on Tuesday. Previously all counties across the state were required to audit only one of the races following the election. 

“This is being done to ensure Iowans of the integrity of the vote,” Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a press release. “Our post-election audits consistently match the ballot tabulators perfectly. Adding another race to the process gives greater protection, transparency and security to the process. We want Iowans to know their vote counts.”

A random precinct from each county will hand audit the ballot tabulators’ results for the gubernatorial race. An additional randomly selected race will be chosen to undergo an audit on Nov. 9, the day after Election Day, according to the press release. 

The 2022 election has already seen changes to the voting process that lawmakers say aims to ensure security in elections. As previously reported by The Daily Iowan, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a bill into law in March 2021 that reduced the early voting period, closed the polls an hour earlier, and required absentee ballots to be delivered when the polls close. 

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Pate himself is facing reelection in 2022. In an appearance on Iowa Press, Pate’s Democratic challenger Joel Miller said Pate’s past support for former President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani, who denied the results of the 2020 election, makes Pate an untrustworthy official. Pate, a Republican, told Iowa Press the job of the secretary of state is not to wear a team jersey for their party, but to be an impartial referee. 

See The Daily Iowan’s voter guide for more information on voting in Johnson County.