The Republican National Committee sued an Iowa election official Thursday for access to voting machine data, escalating a fight over how much access third-party monitors should have to election records five days before the midterms.
The lawsuit, filed in a Black Hawk County district court, alleges County Auditor Karen Showalter broke the law by stopping RNC observers from writing down or photographing the serial numbers on plastic security seals used to lock voting machines after they are tested.
“The seal permits the commissioner and the public to determine that the tabulating equipment has not been altered between testing and its use in the election,” the RNC wrote. “The defendant refused to permit RNC representatives to photograph or otherwise document the seal numbers placed on tabulating equipment.”
Showalter and county officials say keeping serial numbers secret is vital to protecting machines from being hacked. They maintain that state laws permit them to shield critical infrastructure from the public.
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The party is asking a judge to force the county to hand over the seal logs, fine the auditor and pay for the RNC’s legal bills.
The case comes as President Donald Trump’s administration pursues litigation concerning voting equipment and voter eligibility across the country. Thursday’s complaint argues that voting machine serial numbers should be available for public inspection, despite the fact that the digits are intentionally obscured to prevent unwanted tampering.
Republicans have increasingly sought to discontinue the use of QR-code-based voting machines ahead of November’s election, as widespread conspiracy theories conjure fears about foreign interference.
The testing is legal under Iowa law, the complaint asserts.
Members of the public interested in testing voting machines are required by law to sign a certificate documenting that the machines were securely sealed, though the statute does not require listing the digits on the seals — just the serial numbers and locations of the devices being tested.
Showalter cited state security exemptions and a 2018 county resolution to justify her refusal to grant the RNC access, according to an email cited in the complaint.
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