Article Photos

George Eichhorn, a former state representative, sees a lot of problems in the state's election system and said Friday he's running for secretary of state in order to help fix them.

"We are going to have litigation about elections soon," he said. "It is just a matter of when if we don't look at what's going on."

Eichhorn, a Republican, said the problems stemmed from policies regarding state elections that made the system more ripe for abuse. In particular, he said the state's absentee and satellite voting systems could sometimes unduly sway elections.

The same goes for same-day voter registration.

Though Eichhorn says these policies cannot be changed without the state Legislature doing something about it, he said he would use his office as a bully pulpit to push for reform.

While Eichhorn said that everyone who is legitimately allowed to vote should be able to do so, he believes the system, as it stands currently, could lead to more instances of voter fraud.

This is especially true with the pivotal role Iowa has played in close elections the past few election cycles.

"Elections in Iowa have been taken over by out-of-state money," he said, which increases the chances for fraud and abuse.

Eichhorn also criticized the secretary of state's office for the way money was spent from the Help America Vote Act.

Though the current secretary of state, Michael Mauro, was not in office at the time that money was spent, Eichhorn said the Democrat has done little to correct the problem even though it has been repeatedly mentioned in audits at the state level.

Eichhorn served six years in the Iowa House. Part of that time, he served as House chairman of the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee, which is responsible for the secretary of state's budget.

---

Contact Ken Black at 641-753-6611 or kblack@timesrepublican.com