Lt. Governor Rule Shake-Up & Voting Age on Iowa’s 2024 Ballot

We're getting closer and closer to those awkward Thanksgiving dinners that happen every four years where some family members decide to bring up politics before the turkey is even out of the oven.

That's right! Another general election is right around the corner.

On Tuesday, November 5th the fate of our nation's future will be decided by the American people.

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Iowans will be able to cast their vote in the general elections this time around which includes the Presidency, state representatives and senators, county elections, Soil & Water Commissioner, and two constitutional amendments.

Iowa's Constitutional Amendments on the Ballot

While most of the political ads we're seeing on television and online are from candidates vying for positions, we're not seeing much about these amendments that the state is trying to add.

At first glance they might seem rather harmless. However, it's our job as Americans and as Iowa residents to make sure we take a closer look and understand exactly what we're voting yay or nay to.

Who Gets to Pick the Lieutenant Governor?

This amendment on the ballot will cement the Iowa governor's line of succession.

Due to the recent resignation of Iowa's own Lieutenant Governor, this is a very important issue for state lawmakers.

The language confirms that the lieutenant governor would take over as governor if they vacated the position, were too ill to fulfill the roles of the position, were removed from office or died.

It seems rather pedantic, right? It's obvious that the second in command in the Iowa executive office would take over the role until the end of the elected term.

However, it's the second part of this amendment that is causing some disagreements in the state legislature.

If the Lieutenant Governor steps into the Governor's position, that will leave a vacancy in the Lieutenant Governor's office that the new Governor can fill.

So, the old Lieutenant Governor can select the new Lieutenant Governor.

This amendment would alter Article IV, Section 17 of the Iowa State Constitution, to read:

Sec. 17. Lieutenant governor or lieutenant governor-elect to become or act as governor or governor-elect. If there is a temporary disability of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall act as governor unitl the disability is removed, or the governor dies, resigns, or is removed from office. In case of the death, resignation, or removal from office of the governor, the lieutenant governor shall become governor for the remainder of the term, which shall create a vacancy in the office of lieutenant governor. This section shall also apply, as appropriate, to the governor-elect and the lieutenant governor-elect.

Voting Age

The voting age in America is eighteen, plain and simple.

However, there can be some confusion state to state on whether or not young voters can vote in primary elections.

In my home state of Pennsylvania, I was able to vote in the 2016 primary election even though I was only seventeen. I was allowed to vote because I was going to be eighteen by November.

This new amendment would repeal and replace Article II, Section 1 of the Iowa State Constitution, and permit voters who are seventeen at the time of the primaries to vote if they are eighteen at the time of the general election.

It will read:

Only a citizen of the United States of the age of eighteen years, who shall have been a resident of this state for such period of time as shall be provided by law and of the county in which the citizen claims the citizen’s vote for such period of time as shall be provided by law, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which are authorized by law. However, for purposes of a primary election, a United States citizen must be at least eighteen years of age as of the next general election following the primary election. The required periods of residence shall not exceed six months in this state and sixty days in the county.

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