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Trump campaign sues key Iowa counties over absentee mailings

In this Oct. 8, 2018, file photo, local residents wait in line for their ballot at the Polk County Election office on the first day of early voting for the Iowa general election in Des Moines, Iowa. An Iowa judge has struck down as unconstitutional large portions of a 2017 voting reform law challenged by a Hispanic civil rights group and an Iowa State University student. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
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IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign has sued two Democratic-leaning Iowa counties that are making it easy to vote by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, seeking to invalidate tens of thousands of voters’ absentee ballot applications.

The Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and other GOP groups filed the lawsuits against elections officials in Linn and Johnson counties. At issue are absentee ballot request forms that the counties are sending to registered voters with personal information already filled in.

The GOP lawsuits argue that the auditors are violating a state directive by prepopulating the forms and that any ballots cast in response to the mailings may be subject to legal challenge.