Controversy surrounds voter fraud inquiry

DES MOINES (AP) ? After spending nearly $150,000 over 18 months to uncover voter fraud in the state, Secretary of State Matt Schultz has succeeded only in obtaining charges in 16 cases. Five have been dismissed and five ended in guilty pleas. No cases have gone to trial.

Schultz tells The Des Moines Register it?s proof voter fraud exists and taxpayers want him to do something about it.

Advocates for ballot access and Schultz critics say so few cases show voter misconduct is statistically insignificant and is usually the result of a misunderstanding rather than fraud.

Schultz, a Republican who has made ballot security a signature issue, could spend as much as $280,000 on looking into voter fraud as part of a two-year contract he?s signed with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.