For immediate release
May 12, 2003
Johnson County Attorney J. Patrick White announced that investigation into the circumstances of 44 unopened absentee ballots which the Iowa Democratic Party discovered and delivered to the Johnson County Auditor had been concluded. White said that while the investigation, conducted by Assistant County Attorney Janet Lyness, established negligence by Democratic staff, the willful neglect required by Iowa law for criminal charges did not exist. Lyness found that the act of failing to deliver the ballots to the County Auditor was not intentional—and therefore not criminal. White also stated, though, that the party’s staff and procedure constituted a lack of ordinary care which had the egregious result of denying 44 well-meaning citizens their right of franchise. "If the Iowa Democratic Party intends in the future actively to seek to be a conduit for absentee ballots being cast, it should establish more reliable procedures which assure that this negligence will never be repeated," said White. White thanked County Auditor Tom Slockett for his assistance in the investigation.
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Questions:
Janet Lyness, Assistant County Attorney
J. Patrick White, Johnson County Attorney
Ph. (319) 339-6100