Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver is a valid resident of the Grimes district where he won election, the Polk County auditor decided Monday, defeating a voter registration challenge leveraged against him last month.
Whitver, a Republican, was reelected to represent Iowa Senate District 23, which includes Grimes and parts of rural Polk and Dallas counties.
However, allegations arose ahead of the election that Whitver did not actually live in the Grimes condominium where he claimed residence. An investigation by KCRG-TV and KCCI-TV reported that public records show the Grimes address wasn't using water. Whitver disputed that claim.
Soon after, Grimes resident Ann Gale filed a challenge against Whitver's voter registration, alleging that Whitver and his family still lived in Ankeny. She cited water bills through September, social media posts, and the account of a political door-knocker who spoke to Whitver's wife at the Ankeny house in October.
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald, a Democrat, held a hearing on the matter in late November. A representative for Whitver presented paperwork that showed his change of address in September, as well as photos of his furnished Grimes residence and several dozen screenshots of Whitver's Apple Maps location that showed he was at the Grimes condo during early morning and late night hours between Sept. 14 and Nov. 30.
Fitzgerald issued a written statement Monday that Gale provided insufficient evidence to prove that Whitver did not live in Grimes. Therefore, he wrote, Whitver is a Grimes resident and the challenge is rejected.
"(Gale's) dated social media, websites and water bill evidence prior to Mr. Whitver's September 2022 move to Grimes is found to be insufficient to overcome the presumption that Mr. Whitver's declared residency is valid and his submitted evidence," Fitzgerald wrote.
Whitver, a Republican, was reelected to represent Iowa Senate District 23, which includes Grimes and parts of rural Polk and Dallas counties.
However, allegations arose ahead of the election that Whitver did not actually live in the Grimes condominium where he claimed residence. An investigation by KCRG-TV and KCCI-TV reported that public records show the Grimes address wasn't using water. Whitver disputed that claim.
Soon after, Grimes resident Ann Gale filed a challenge against Whitver's voter registration, alleging that Whitver and his family still lived in Ankeny. She cited water bills through September, social media posts, and the account of a political door-knocker who spoke to Whitver's wife at the Ankeny house in October.
Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald, a Democrat, held a hearing on the matter in late November. A representative for Whitver presented paperwork that showed his change of address in September, as well as photos of his furnished Grimes residence and several dozen screenshots of Whitver's Apple Maps location that showed he was at the Grimes condo during early morning and late night hours between Sept. 14 and Nov. 30.
Fitzgerald issued a written statement Monday that Gale provided insufficient evidence to prove that Whitver did not live in Grimes. Therefore, he wrote, Whitver is a Grimes resident and the challenge is rejected.
"(Gale's) dated social media, websites and water bill evidence prior to Mr. Whitver's September 2022 move to Grimes is found to be insufficient to overcome the presumption that Mr. Whitver's declared residency is valid and his submitted evidence," Fitzgerald wrote.
Polk County auditor sides with Iowa Senate leader Jack Whitver in voter registration challenge
A hearing determined that Whitver, a Republican, does live in the Grimes district where he won election.
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