Barb Kalbach.

In front of a group of conservative activists recently, Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate urged Iowans to become poll workers instead of poll watchers.

“Be a poll worker,” he said. “Because if you’re a poll worker, whether you’re a Democrat or Republican or no party, you see everything right up close and personal.”

It also, apparently, puts you at greater risk of being arrested.

Take Joey Norris for example.

Joey volunteered during the 2024 election counting absentee ballots in Montgomery County. He raised concerns about ballots that were possibly being improperly thrown out. And then he got thrown out. He was asked to leave, which he did without incident. A year and a half later, he was arrested, charged with election misconduct and now awaits his October trial. Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird’s office is prosecuting the case.

Pate says our elections are secure-nothing to worry about here. But then why is an Iowan who volunteered his time facing felony charges because he spoke up about the process when he saw something questionable. Isn’t that what we want our election workers to do?

It might be worth noting here that Joey is the former chair of the Montgomery County Democrats, and the nephew of John and Jackie Norris, two prominent Iowa Democrats.

Someone had to look real hard to find charges to bring against Joey, which boggles my mind as a former election volunteer. I counted absentee ballots back in the mid-2000s. I had no problems asking questions about the process. There was no intimidation. Just answers to my questions about if ballots were valid.

That’s how it is supposed to be. Now it seems volunteers face possible repercussions for doing their job. Not many people are going to want to have the threat of being arrested and sent to jail hanging over their heads when they are just trying to help their communities. If it happened to Joey, it could happen to anyone. There is a great silencing effect that grows out of situations like this. And that’s the whole idea behind it. It isn’t about keeping our elections safe and democratic.

Joey’s case should raise the alarm bells for any Iowan who cares about democracy. We still don’t have answers as to why charges were brought against him and why it took 20 months to file them.

We cannot go into the midterm election blindly. There are a lot of unanswered questions swirling about what’s behind Joey’s case. And I fear this is just a precursor of what’s to come this November.

Our elections here in Iowa are safe, secure and fair. And that’s because of the processes established by state law. Every poll worker should feel comfortable and safe raising questions. What happened to Joey is not how our democracy works and everyday Iowans aren’t going to be bullied with misinformation meant to keep them away from the polls and discredit our elections.

Barb Kalbach lives in Adair County, Iowa. She is a fourth-generation family farmer, a registered nurse and board president of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement. Barb can be reached at barbnealkalbach@gmail.com.