The Johnson County Auditor’s office confirmed that 63 people on a list of alleged non-citizens who have registered to vote or voted are U.S. citizens and 232 have yet to prove their citizenship. 

The list of 295 voters was sent to the Johnson County Auditor’s office by Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate on Oct. 22 as part of a statewide audit of voter rolls using outdated driver’s license application data, where applicants marked they were noncitizens at the time, provided by the Iowa Department of Transportation. 

Pate directed county election officials to challenge the ballots of the voters named on the secret list of more than 2,000 Iowa voters, however, he did not direct them to challenge or purge their voter registration. 

The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, in partnership with the national ACLU, filed a lawsuit against Pate on Thursday, alleging the move was illegal under federal voting laws and violated the constitutional rights of the voters on the list. 

According to a news release from the county, one person was referred to law enforcement for additional clarification and investigation into their eligibility. 

The Johnson County Auditor’s office has worked in tandem with the county attorney’s office and the county sheriff’s office to proactively confirm the citizenship of the voters on the list. The auditor’s office also sent letters to all the voters on the list. 

Johnson County Auditor Erin Shane said that the action by Pate comes during the busiest time for county auditors. 

“The people who have received our letters are coming into our office with a range of emotions from disappointment to understandably angry,” Shane said. “One person came in yesterday to prove their citizenship, and along with their naturalization papers, showed us letters they received 7 years ago from Senator Joni Ernst and then US Representative Dave Loebsack congratulating them on their citizenship. They did not understand how this could happen.” 

According to a news release from the Secretary of State’s office they have reached out to the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Service field office in Des Moines to proactively confirm the citizenship status of the voters and were told that one was compiled but they were unable to release it to Pate’s office. 

U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst sent a letter to the director of the immigration service asking them to release the data on Thursday.