State Auditor Rob Sand — the only Democrat running for governor — is proposing term limits and cognitive tests for elected officials, along with changes to Iowa’s elections, as part of his plan to promote accountability in the state’s political system.
At a news conference Thursday, Sand said the current system helps politicians get reelected even if they don’t solve problems. He believes the majority of Iowans would agree with his ideas for fixing that.
“I think it’s time that we implement them, so that people who are in public office actually have to resolve the issues that face Iowans in order to get reelected, they actually have to face competition and that they aren’t spending their time enriching themselves,” Sand said.
His “Accountability for All” plan also includes age limits and stock trading restrictions for elected officials, requiring candidates to pass a civics test to get on the ballot, making prison time mandatory for people who steal public funds, creating new limits on education savings accounts (ESA) for private schools, strengthening whistleblower protections and rolling back limits that the Legislature put on the powers of the State Auditor’s Office.
If elected governor, Sand would have to convince the Republican-majority Legislature to advance these policies.
“A lot of them also support these issues publicly — lawmakers in both parties — and it’s just a question of actually putting a point on it, advocating for these issues, bringing them to the front of the conversation, so that we are pushing them and forcing people to take positions on them,” he said.
Election changes
Sand called for changes to Iowa’s primary elections, which require voters to register as a Republican or Democrat to cast a vote in one party’s primary. He said all candidates should be on one ballot, and up to four of the candidates who receive the most votes would advance to the general election.
For general elections, Sand has proposed “approval voting,” which would let Iowans vote for as many candidates as they approve of. The candidate with the most votes would win.
“What I have proposed would give independent voters an equal voice,” he said. “Anybody who says anything other than that are the people who are clinging to power in this state because they’re desperate to keep it.”
Some Republicans have criticized this proposal, saying it would be confusing and lead to delayed election results.
“Rob Sand isn’t trying to fix Iowa’s elections, he’s trying to replace them,” said Iowa GOP spokesperson Jade Cichy. “Iowa already delivers secure elections, voter ID, and fast, reliable results. Sand’s plan trades that for a confusing, untested system that puts all of that at risk. That’s not progress, it’s a step backward.”
Alaska, Washington and California have single-ballot primary election systems similar to Sand’s proposal, according to Ballotpedia. St. Louis is the only jurisdiction that uses approval voting.
Sand said he is focused on state and local elections, and the changes don’t necessarily need to apply to caucuses run by the Republican and Democratic parties. He said he likes caucuses, but he would be open to considering changes.
Limits and tests for elected officials
Sand said candidates should have to pass cognitive and civics tests to get on the ballot.
He also said statewide elected officials and state lawmakers should be subject to term limits and age limits. Sand said he is open to discussing what those limits should be, but he thinks 78 would be a reasonable age limit — that’s the mandatory retirement age for Iowa judges — and three terms would be "about right" for a statewide office.
“We can all recognize that if you’ve been there for five terms, there’s probably someone else who’s going to have a little bit more pep in their step, who’d do a good job,” Sand said.
He also called for a ban on stock trading by elected officials by requiring them to put stock holdings in blind trusts. He declined to say how many terms he would serve as governor or how he would handle his investments if these proposals do not become law.
Sand, in his current role of state auditor, has been calling on lawmakers to require prison time for people who steal public funds.
“They’re not drunk. They’re not committing these crimes in a fit of passion,” he said. “They are coldly and soberly thinking about their position of trust and their position of power, and they are making the choice week after week, month after month, to steal from taxpayers, because they have access to taxpayer money.”
Limits on private school funds
Sand proposed new limits on Iowa’s ESAs, which send taxpayer dollars to Iowa families to help them pay for private school tuition.
He said there should be an income restriction to qualify for ESAs, and private schools that accept ESAs should be limited in how much they can raise tuition. He said the vast majority of Iowans want these changes.
“They want to know how public dollars are spent, including if they’re spent by a private school,” Sand said. “They want to have rules for how that money can get spent, because there’s some things that you shouldn’t be allowed to spend taxpayer dollars on.”
Sand said if Republican lawmakers who voted for the ESA program don’t agree, they should have to answer for it.
