Jon Dunwell visited polls on Election Day, witnesses allege election misconduct

Iowa House Rep. Jon Dunwell visited a number of precincts on Election Day in order to get a feel for what the turnout was like, but a number of witnesses have told Newton News his conversations with poll workers and voters waiting in line may be considered election misconduct. Dunwell vehemently denies this.

According to Iowa Code 39A.4, election misconduct primarily covers illegal acts that occur on Election Day, such as loitering, congregating and electioneering within 300 feet of polling places. Electioneering is when a person tries to persuade others to vote for or against a particular political party or candidate.

However, Dunwell said he was not wearing or distributing any election materials during his visits to precincts in Newton, Colfax and Kellogg. The Republican could not recall just how many precincts he visited on Election Day, but he insisted all topics of conversation were completely innocent.

Dunwell said, “I didn’t campaign. I had nothing on me. Just shook hands and checked to see what the voter turnout looked like. I asked poll workers questions and talked to a couple people about the weather and the rain. It looked like good turnout. In Kellogg, one city council member knew who I was so I just said hello.”

Witnesses at the Jasper County Church of Christ, the old Union Hall building, saw Dunwell speaking with two poll workers in the kitchen area, which is primarily only used for volunteers to store their food and have a more secluded area to enjoy a quick meal. The witnesses did not hear what they discussed.

But they did remember him smiling and waving as he left. Others in the Kellogg precinct at city hall said they saw Dunwell speaking to people in line waiting to vote. Again, they did not hear the conversation, but they felt like Dunwell, as a candidate appearing on the ballot, should not be talking to prospective voters.

Dunwell told Newton News he was not at any one precinct for more than seven minutes at a time. Dunwell said it is no different than what he has done during past elections. Despite being on the ballot, Dunwell did not feel like it was inappropriate for him to visit precincts to ask about the voter turnout.

“I’ve done it every time I’ve been involved with an election to just check out voter turnout,” Dunwell said. “I was not at a place longer than a few minutes.”

The representative of Iowa House District 38 added that he did not identify himself or introduce himself to voters nor did he talk about elections or ask people who they were voting for. Dunwell went on to say the subjects of his conversations never ventured into anything related to Republicans or Democrats.

“I don’t think there was anything wrong with it,” Dunwell said to Newton News this past week. “I wasn’t campaigning. Very disappointed. This is the Democratic Party again. Very disappointed. I get harassed on a regular basis. There was nothing wrong with it. I was just checking polls.”

DUNWELL SAYS DEMOCRATS ARE HARASSING HIM

Speaking on the harassment he faces, Dunwell recalled a recent incident where a political sign of his was posted on the city right-of-way outside his office space in downtown Newton. Dunwell was out of town when this occurred. Dunwell guessed someone was trying to return a sign and it was put in the grass.

“I have to deal with the same person who wrote a letter to the city telling them I’ve got a sign in the right-of-way when there are 10 million signs across the city that have been in the right-of-way,” Dunwell said. “I didn’t put it up. The election’s done. Someone was returning a sign. That’s the kind of thing I put up with.”

Dunwell said these types of things happen all the time to him. He suggested these recent complaints raised against him are coming from the local Jasper County Democratic Party. Dunwell said other election experiences have also been used against him, like when he first ran against Wes Breckenridge.

“Someone who couldn’t read that never voted in their life wanted to vote,” Dunwell said. “I went up to the auditor at that time (Dennis Parrott) and I said, ‘This person wants to vote. They need some help with their ballot.’ And then the auditor himself said to me, ‘You can help them.’”

Despite some resistance from a poll worker, Dunwell listened to Parrott and filled out paperwork to assist the individual with their ballot. Dunwell said he did not tell the person who to vote for and that the individual voted for people he would never have voted for. Dunwell said he read the ballot to them.

“Wouldn’t it be interesting that next year there was a bill that passed through that said a candidate can’t help someone vote? Now, again, I don’t have a problem with that,” Dunwell said. “I just asked the auditor for some help. Who can help this person read? The auditor said, ‘You can go ahead and do it, Jon.’”

But Dunwell said the experience led to him being harassed.

“I’m annoyed at the continued process I tend to go through with that group of people,” he said. “I just think they’re not nice people. That’s all.”

COUNTY AUDITOR IS AWARE OF DUNWELL’S VISITS

Jasper County Auditor Jenna Jennings, who is the commissioner of elections, was notified that a candidate had possibly walked into a precinct, looked around for a bit, talked to some people and then left on Election Day. The complaint was second hand and the individual did not follow up with Jennings to verify.

Since then she has been told this happened at multiple locations but that the candidate never asked any questions regarding the election. To her knowledge, the candidate spoke with people he knew outside the scope of the election and did not wear anything that would have identified himself as a candidate.

Jennings said she always tells her precinct election workers that there is a fine line on what is OK and what is not OK behavior at polls. If someone is chanting for a specific candidate, raising a scene and wearing clothing promoting a candidate, she said precinct workers have the right to ask that person to leave.

These rules, she added, apply for candidates and non-candidates. She reasoned it might be wise for visitors of precincts to register as a poll watcher. But it is important to note that, according to guidance from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, candidates and elected officials on the ballot cannot be poll watchers.

POLL WATCHERS, POLL WORKERS AND ELECTION TRAINING

The Secretary of State’s Office defines poll watchers as people who have official permission to be at a polling place or in the room where absentee ballots are being counted on Election Day. Poll watchers are also called observers or challenging committees. Anyone can be a poll watcher unless prohibited by law.

Poll watchers can observe, but not interfere with, the elections process.

Jennings said her volunteer poll workers are trained before every election on the equipment, procedures of the election and how to handle difficult situations. They are told if they feel comfortable taking care of a situation they can, or they can call the auditor’s office staff to resolve any possible issues.

In escalated incidents, poll workers are to call 911 immediately. The auditor’s office works closely with Jasper County Emergency Management Agency leading up to the election on different scenarios that may happen. The auditor’s office also held exercises with the sheriff’s office and surrounding law enforcement.

Extra officers were available on Election Day and had frequently driven by polling locations periodically to make sure things were running smoothly, Jennings said.

“I discourage any behavior that voters may question,” Jennings said. “I think if you are following the proper procedures, we don’t have issues. If you want to check out multiple polling locations and watch the flow, simply fill out the poll watcher form and present it to the poll workers.”

ELECTION MISCONDUCT IN THE NEWS

Behavior of elected officials at polling places was scrutinized this past election cycle when Iowa State Auditor Rob Sand handed out pizzas to people voting early at the Polk County Election Office in Des Moines. Lee Rood of The Des Moines Register reported that an election misconduct complaint had been filed.

According to Rood’s reporting, a Republican political consultant alleged Sand participated in unethical and potentially criminal behavior. The complaint was submitted to the attorney general, secretary of state, public safety commissioner, Polk County sheriff and Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board.

Although Sand was not up for re-election and did not appear on the general election ballot, Luke Martz of Riverfront Strategy Group suggested the state auditor is a staunch supporter of Democratic congressional district candidate Lanon Baccam, who later lost the race against Republican Zach Nunn.

Prior to Election Day, Newton News published an article in which Jasper County Attorney Scott Nicholson discouraged “any voter place shenanigans” regarding both voter intimidation and electioneering. Nicholson said polls are for people to come and feel safe, do their business and vote and then leave.

Election crimes like election misconduct are handled not by county attorneys in Iowa but rather the state attorney general. The Attorney General’s Office has exclusive jurisdiction when prosecuting election crimes. County attorneys can still handle riots, unlawful assemblies, failures to disperse and disorderly conduct.