Iowa has settled a federal lawsuit with voters who were incorrectly flagged as potential noncitizens before the 2024 presidential election, reaching an agreement that limits the state’s ability to challenge voter eligibility based solely on driver’s license records close to elections.

The settlement, filed Wednesday, prohibits Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate from using transportation department data as the exclusive method for citizenship verification within three months of an election. The agreement comes after several naturalized U.S. citizens sued Pate in October 2024, claiming their voting rights were violated when election workers were instructed to challenge ballots from approximately 2,000 registered voters identified as possible noncitizens.

All five plaintiffs in the case were legally eligible to vote despite being included on the state’s list of suspected noncitizens. The controversy stemmed from Pate’s office comparing voter rolls against Iowa Department of Transportation records showing individuals who had at some point self-identified as noncitizens when obtaining driver’s licenses or identification cards.

“The overwhelming majority of voters wrongly put on this list, including all our clients, are naturalized United States citizens who have the right to vote,” said Rita Bettis Austen, legal director for the ACLU of Iowa, which represented the voters. “We are hopeful today’s settlement will safeguard Iowans from this happening again in future elections.”

A subsequent review of Iowa’s 2024 election revealed only 35 noncitizens voted out of more than 1.6 million ballots cast, with 277 noncitizens registered among nearly 2.3 million total registered voters. The findings underscored what voting rights experts have long maintained – that noncitizen voting in U.S. elections is exceedingly rare.

The settlement stipulates that the 2024 list of flagged voters has been rescinded and cannot be used for any future ballot challenges or voter roll maintenance. In return, the naturalized citizens agreed to drop their claims, though a federal judge still needs to formally accept the agreement.

Pate, a Republican, had initially defended the practice, stating that transportation data was the best available citizenship verification source because his office lacked access to federal immigration records under the Biden administration. However, Iowa has since secured access to the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program through an agreement with President Donald Trump’s Department of Homeland Security.

The SAVE database allows Iowa to verify voters’ citizenship status by cross-checking names, birthdays, and Social Security numbers against federal immigration records. Both Pate and Iowa’s Republican Attorney General Brenna Bird characterized the settlement as a victory, emphasizing the state’s newly established access to federal databases.

“This settlement allows us to continue using the improved tools we now have through the federal SAVE program to maintain the integrity of Iowa’s voter rolls,” Pate said in a statement following the settlement.

The SAVE program has operated for decades under U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, but has undergone significant upgrades during the Trump administration. These enhancements have raised concerns among voting rights advocates, who have filed separate lawsuits over fears that eligible voters could be improperly purged from voter lists.

The Iowa case highlights the tension between efforts to prevent noncitizen voting and protecting the rights of naturalized citizens. Critics argue that last-minute voter challenges disproportionately impact naturalized Americans, potentially discouraging legal voters from participating in elections. Supporters maintain that verification measures are necessary to preserve election integrity.

The settlement represents a compromise between these positions, allowing Iowa to continue citizenship verification through federal databases while preventing eleventh-hour challenges based on potentially outdated state records.