As distrust in election integrity rises nationwide, Christy McCormick with the U.S. Election Assistance Commission said the agency is working with local election officials to combat misinformation about election security, check that voting systems are working correctly and ensure they are prepared for Nov. 5. The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports McCormick spoke at the Iowa State Association of County Auditors summer conference in Des Moines Thursday, going over resources available through the EAC to local and state officials. In the lead-up to the 2024 general election, McCormick said election officials are facing new challenges with public perception.

“There’s a new interest in elections and every part of the election process that we never used to see back, you know, 10, 15 years ago,” McCormick said. “There’s a lot more scrutiny on election officials now, every single move that they make is being watched. So they have to be careful, they have to be as perfect as they possibly can. … They’re under a lot of stress, so we’re trying to provide them with resources, trying to get new election officials up to speed.”

The commission, created through the 2002 Help America Vote Act, is the federal government body dedicated to overseeing and providing resources on election administration to officials throughout the country, including ensuring voting systems meet federal guidelines, certifying voting equipment and maintaining the National Mail Voter Registration Form.

In Iowa, the EAC official spoke about resources through the commission available to county auditors and local election offices ahead Nov. 5. For example, McCormick said, Iowa uses the voluntary EAC program for testing and certifying voting systems. Other resources are available to ensure election systems are secure, she said, like the Field Services Program bringing EAC staff to test machines and conduct manufacturer audits, and a “learning lab” launched to train new election officials.

The EAC also works with states and Congress on HAVA grants, federal funding for election security efforts distributed to states. Congress approved $55 for these grants in 2024, a compromise reached between the Democrat-controlled Senate’s proposal of $75 million and the Republican-controlled House proposal of zero dollars. The most recent appropriation falls below the $75 million approved in fiscal years 2023 and 2022.

U.S. Election Assistance Commissioner Christy McCormick spoke at the Iowa State Association of County Auditors summer conference in Des Moines June 27, 2024 about federal resources available to local election officials. (Photo by Robin Opsahl/Iowa Capital Dispatch)

According to EAC data compiled in 2023, Iowa has received more than $46 million in federal funds for election security and maintenance since 2003.

McCormick said the EAC is also working with local and state election officials on safety precautions, including trainings with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on how to respond to potentially hazardous mail, or how to take private information off online search engines to prevent stalking or doxxing.

Though elections officials are facing more attention because of heightened concerns about integrity, McCormick encouraged people with questions and concerns to be in contact with their local election offices. One of the best ways to learn about how the election process works is to get involved, she said, encouraging people to become poll workers and to vote.

Officials are preparing for an “interesting” election season, she said, but that the EAC is working with officials on how to respond to situations where problems do arise, encouraging transparency on processes like auditing and recounts, as well as making contingency plans in case emergencies arise on Election Day.

MASON CITY, Iowa [KCCI-TV] — Thursday marked 29 years of searching for answers in the disappearance of Iowa news anchor Jodi Huisentruit. It was also the final day for a $100,000 reward offered by a private investigator, for information that leads to her remains. Earlier this year, private investigator Steve Ridge upped his reward for information from $50,000 to $100,000.

Jodi Huisentruit (file photo)

Huisentruit was reported missing in 1995 after she never showed up for work in Mason City. Investigators believe she was kidnapped. Huisentruit was legally declared dead six years later.

(Radio Iowa) – A coalition of local economic development, municipal and business leaders in Perry have worked together for several months to help the city prepare for today’s (Friday) closing of the Tyson plant. Perry City manager Sven Peterson says their efforts until now have focused on helping the workers. “We’re going to be moving into a strategic planning process that will be very action focused to be able to really have a very accountable and mindful process for us to move forward as a community together,” he says. Peterson says they now want to find a way to keep the workers in Perry.

“From closing day on we’re really going to be focusing on the next phase of repair of kind of making sure that we can do as much as we possibly can to replace those jobs that were lost,” he says. Peterson says the plant has some 13-hundred employees and it is estimated that 800 live in Perry and there are 300 kids in the school system with parents at the plant. Peterson says part of the effort is to get another business into town with jobs for those workers.

“We’ve been working pretty heavily with Tyson trying to get them as many contacts as possible that might be interested in the Tyson facility,” Peterson says. “But then we’ve also been really pushing and advertising our industrial park on the east side of town.” He says the industrial park has some opportunities for business. Peterson says they are not going to let the closing get the community down.

“We could kind of take this as a major blow to the community or look at it as an opportunity. And we’ve definitely had our fair share of difficult situations in the past, but in the end we have never backed down from a challenge and you know, we’ve always come out stronger as a result,” Peterson says. While they have know about the closing for months, they now have to deal with the reality of it. He says the emotions vary widely.

“Overall, I think everybody is in a different stage, whether it’s specific employees losing their jobs, other business owners in the community, wondering maybe how it might affect their business. But overall, I think it’s kind of just a, yep, this is happening and we’re going to be moving forward and we’re going to be able to be maintaining ourselves in a strong, resilient manner moving forward,” he says.

Peterson is a Perry native and says they have gotten a lot of help from the state and officials in nearby cities and counties in trying to deal with the closing.