Conservative Legal Group Challenges Redactions in Illegal Immigrant School Chief’s Voter Records

A legal battle is unfolding over heavily redacted voter registration records of Ian Andre Roberts, an illegal immigrant who served as superintendent of Des Moines Public Schools until his arrest by federal authorities earlier this year. Conservative legal organizations are demanding greater transparency from Prince George’s County, Maryland, where Roberts was registered as a Democratic voter.

“This was shocking,” said Justin Riemer, CEO and president of Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), in an interview last Friday. “When I saw the news reporting, and they showed screenshots of the registration applications with all this information redacted, I was just shocked.”

The Prince George’s County Board of Elections recently released Roberts’ voter registration documents with extensive redactions, including his sex, whether he checked the citizenship box, his date of birth, and other critical information. RITE and the American Accountability Foundation (AAF) are now fighting to obtain less-redacted versions of these documents.

Roberts, a Guyanese national who first entered the United States in 1994, was arrested by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in September while serving as superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district. Federal authorities determined Roberts was not legally permitted to work in the country after his employment authorization expired in 2020.

The arrest sparked widespread concern and scrutiny, particularly when it was discovered that Roberts was registered to vote in Maryland, where he had previously lived. Though the Maryland State Board of Elections has stated that Roberts never actually voted in elections, the revelation raised serious questions about election integrity and immigration enforcement.

“I’m an election law expert, not an immigration expert, but it doesn’t take one to see just how broken the system has been,” Riemer explained. “He has multiple criminal charges. He has worked in multiple school districts where, if they were doing the proper citizenship and work authorization checks, this should have been caught.”

The controversy deepened when the AAF filed a public records request for Roberts’ voter registration application, only to receive heavily redacted documents. The conservative group reported that the county’s board of elections had placed 18 black boxes across just two pages of documents, obscuring key information.

Riemer, representing both RITE and AAF, sent a formal letter to the Prince George’s County Board of Elections on Tuesday demanding less-redacted records by December 1. The letter cites the National Voter Registration Act, which includes provisions allowing public access to such records.

“If you redact or withhold any portion of the requested records beyond the limited exceptions above, we will immediately follow up with a written notice of your violation,” Riemer’s letter warned, adding that his clients would pursue legal action if the violation was not remedied within 90 days.

This isn’t RITE’s first legal challenge against Maryland election officials. Riemer noted that his organization successfully sued the state last year for similar violations of the National Voter Registration Act regarding restricted access to registration records.

“They just continuously are doing these practices that are not transparent, they’re not what federal law requires, it’s not what the public deserves,” Riemer said. As of Friday afternoon, the Prince George’s County Board of Elections had not responded to requests for comment on the letter or the redactions.

Roberts’ case has become a flashpoint in the ongoing national debate over election security and immigration enforcement. Riemer argued that instances like this demonstrate that concerns about non-citizens on voter rolls are not merely “political theater,” as some critics have suggested.

“We know it happens in the thousands. Oregon, for example, reported registering a couple thousand non-citizens through their DMV,” he said.

Following his September arrest, Roberts was taken into U.S. Marshals’ custody for prosecution. The Department of Homeland Security has released details of Roberts’ extensive criminal history, which includes charges dating back to 1996 for criminal possession of narcotics with intent to sell in New York, a 2012 conviction for reckless driving in Maryland, and more recent weapons charges.

At the time of his arrest, Roberts reportedly attempted to flee law enforcement and was found with $3,000 in cash, a Glock 9mm pistol, and a hunting knife. On October 2, he was criminally charged with being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners has since revoked Roberts’ license, permanently barring him from serving as a superintendent in the state.