Democrat groups request Iowa Supreme Court stop new absentee ballot request law

Democrat groups are urging the Iowa Supreme Court to block a new Republican-backed state law that prohibits county election commissioners from filling in missing information on absentee ballot requests.

The law, passed by the Iowa legislature in June, stopped commissioners from being able to fix missing-information errors, something that was previously allowed. Now, if there is a blank spot on an absentee ballot request, voters will need to be contacted by phone, email and then mail in order to get them to fill in the missing information themselves.

Officials say this could delay processing and prevent requesters from completing forms before the deadline. Roughly 10,000 to 35,000 people could be impacted if requests are turned in up to 10 days before the election. 

A county judge denied a request Monday to block the new law. Democrat groups are appealing the decision, asking the state's high court to put the law on hold. The Iowa Supreme Court currently consists of six Republicans and one Democrat, making any changes unlikely.