The security of Iowa’s absentee voting system has been called into question after an automated call by Iowa Republicans caused an uproar among voters.

On Monday, a call, which originated from the Republican Party of Iowa’s get-out-the-vote effort Victory ’04, warned GOP supporters to be wary of two Democratic-leaning, “shadowy groups” that have begun collecting absentee ballots.

The two groups, Americans Coming Together and MoveOn.org, were said to jeopardize the votes, the message said.

Ed Failor Jr., executive director of Victory ’04, said the message, which went out to hundreds of party supporters, wasn’t intended to discourage voters, but did attempt to alert people about the activities of the groups.

“Shadowy organizations like ACT and MoveOn.org are working with Democrats to collect ballots,” Failor said in the message. “If you vote, do not give your ballot to anyone who is not officially credentialed by the Republican Party of Iowa. … Don’t let these shadowy organizations jeopardize your vote.”

Groups such as ACT have gone “well outside the bounds of what’s legal for elections,” he said.

But Failor said he believed new regulations in the election system have helped make it safe. The message, he said, was an attempt to stop voter confusion after the Iowa GOP received reports that Democratic-leaning groups have been forcing voters to turn over absentee ballots.

John McCormally, communications director for the Iowa Democratic Party, said the calls were a blatant and outright distortion, and that the Democrats have no connections with either group.

“We are demanding that the Republicans stop their effort to suppress voter turnout,” McCormally said. “That’s what they’re trying to do. It’s just outrageous. Iowa has a reputation of having clean elections, and the Republicans are trying to sully that reputation in order to cover their own shortcomings.”

Story County Auditor Mary Mosiman and the secretary of state’s office said they have both received calls of concern about the message.

“It’s distressing to see efforts to distort the process to deceive voters or to try to get a higher level of confusion,” said Phyllis Peters, spokeswoman for the Iowa secretary of state’s office.

“It’s not a healthy thing to try and confuse a black cloud over the absentee voting process.”

Peters said the office was working to assure voters the absentee system was safe.

Couriers in all counties, she said, were trained according to strict standards and were bound by law to follow proper procedures when handling ballots. Couriers who don’t follow the law face a felony prosecution.

Both sides have pushed their bases to vote absentee as a convenient way to vote, which has caused speculation by many that this will be a record year for requests. In the 2000 election, 242,357 absentee ballots were cast.

Mosiman said there have been calls to her office dealing with ballot couriers as well.

The calls, she said, have led some to believe there have been some people that have been pressured by ballot couriers to turn over their ballots, although they haven’t received any substantial reports.

Currently, there are more than 900 ballot couriers registered in Story County, she said, many of which are also registered statewide.

Bo Berntsen, communications director for ACT in Iowa, said his group plans on having hundreds of couriers in Iowa later in the election season although they haven’t sent out any couriers yet.

The group, Berntsen said, have been encouraging voters to mail in their ballots.

“I think this is just an attempt by the Republicans to muddle the process because they’re being beat three to one,” he said.