Judge: Absentee ballot applications pre-filled with voter info invalid in Johnson County

Iowa City, Iowa — Thousands of absentee ballot request forms that were pre-filled with Johnson County voters' personal information are invalid, a judge has ruled, delivering a third legal victory to President Trump's campaign and Republicans.

The decision requires Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert to void any absentee ballot application with pre-filled information returned to his office and notify voters that their request is not valid. Voters must resend a new request form in order to vote absentee by mail in November.

At least 15,000 request forms pre-populated with voter's personal information, including voter PIN numbers, were returned to the Johnson County auditors office last week. Voter's four-digit PIN numbers, driver's license numbers or other valid ID numbers are required on these forms as part of Iowa's Voter ID law.

The ruling follows two other decisions in similar lawsuits in Linn and Woodbury counties, which were also filed by the Trump campaign and Republicans challenging the legality of sending absentee ballot applications with pre-filled voter information. Judges ruled in favor of Republicans and nullified tens of thousands of pre-filled absentee ballot request forms in those counties, too.

Judge Ian Thornhill in his decision said the court sided with the Republican plaintiffs because they "are attempting to enforce the valid exercise of power by the Secretary of State and specific statutory directives of the legislature." Thornhill also ruled in the Linn County case.

The Iowa GOP praised the judge's ruling in a statement Monday, calling the decision a "big win for election integrity."

“This should effectively close the case on rogue county auditors trying to skirt Iowa's widely-supported voter ID laws,” said Aaron Britt, communications director for the Republican Party of Iowa. “Iowa Republicans will continue advocating for accessible and fair elections."

Thornhill wrote while Iowa law doesn't have specific language stating an absentee ballot application must be completed by the voter, that the statute uses the phrase "apply" for a ballot and requires a signature of the voter "implies that the Iowa Legislature intended for the information to be included on an application for an absentee ballot to be provided by the voter himself or herself."

At the center of the case was an emergency directive by the Iowa Secretary of State's office requiring that county auditors send blank absentee ballot request forms to voters in their jurisdictions. Republicans in the case argued auditors in Linn, Johnson and Woodbury counties who sent pre-populated applications violated a lawful order from the state's top elections commissioner.

The Iowa Secretary of State's office has sent blank absentee applications to all active, registered voters across the state to ensure "uniformity" of elections.

This story will be updated.