DES MOINES, IOWA (December 1, 2025) — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate is celebrating a legal victory for Iowa’s election integrity, following the news that the federal government has agreed to a settlement granting Iowa access to an important tool for maintaining voter registration lists. The agreement grants the state legally binding access to the SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) for twenty years.
Sec Pate requested the Office of the Attorney General of Iowa to file a lawsuit against the Biden Administration in 2024, following the administration’s refusal to provide clarifying information that would help the state verify citizenship during an audit of Iowa’s voter registration lists.
Sec Pate released the following statement regarding the legal victory.
“American elections are for American citizens. This agreement provides us with another layer of election integrity and protection — the ability to audit our lists and ensure only eligible voters are registered to vote and voting in Iowa elections.
“Protecting the integrity of Iowa elections and ensuring only eligible Iowa voters participate in Iowa elections continue to be priorities of our office, as does encouraging voter participation from every eligible Iowa voter. We continue to take additional steps to audit Iowa's voter lists and verify that the information is correct and up to date. The SAVE program provides us with critical information, but we must also continue to utilize information from other state and federal partners to maintain clean and accurate lists.”
The Iowa Secretary of State represents one of four states participating in a pilot program with the Department of Homeland Security to receive expanded access to the SAVE program and test the bulk upload process, which allows election officials to upload batch data, including Social Security numbers, to verify SAVE information against voter registration lists.
This legal settlement from the federal government ensures Iowa has long-term legal access to this information and the citizenship verification tools for at least twenty years.
