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What to know as early voting begins in Iowa [1]

['Robin Opsahl', 'More From Author', '- October']

Date: 2022-10-19

Early voting begins in Iowa Wednesday for the Nov. 8 general election, in which Iowans will make their choices in races including the governor and U.S. senator.

Iowans looking to cast an absentee ballot in this year’s election have until 5 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 24 to request their ballot. That shorter request window is one of multiple changes to Iowa’s voting rules which Gov. Kim Reynolds signed into law in recent years. That law also changed rules on how to return absentee ballots both in person and by mail, and the cutoff time for when ballots received will be counted.

Here’s what to know heading into the 20 days of early voting before Election Day.

Voter registration

To register to vote in Iowa, a person must be:

An Iowa resident.

A U.S. citizen.

18 years old by Election Day.

A voter cannot be:

A convicted felon. (Unless their voting rights have been restored.)

Judged mentally incompetent to vote by a court.

Claim the right to vote in any other place.

Qualified voters can register to vote online, or download a form to return to their county auditor by Oct. 24. Iowa also has same-day voter registration, allowing voters to register when they go to the polls on Election Day. Registration requires proof of ID and proof of residence. If an Iowan does not have these documents, another registered voter from the same precinct can attest for the person registering.

Iowans can check their voter registration status on the Iowa secretary of state’s website.

How to early vote

Wednesday, Oct. 19, is the first day Iowans can begin early voting, 20 days before the election. However, people who have requested ballots may not see them in the mail just yet: Oct. 19 is also the first day county auditors are allowed to start mailing absentee ballots for the general election.

This year has a shorter early voting window than previous years at 20 days. Previously, Iowa law allowed voters to cast their ballots starting 29 days before the election. Before Iowa’s 2017 Voter ID law was implemented, Iowans had 40 days of early voting.

There’s still time to get an absentee ballot. Iowans have until Monday, Oct. 24, which is 15 days before the election – to request an absentee ballot. Ballot request forms can be downloaded from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website and returned either in person or by mail to the voter’s local county auditor’s office.

In addition to absentee voting, Iowa offers early voting in person. Voters can head to their county auditor’s office to cast their ballots starting Oct. 19, and can request satellite voting locations by petition. These voting locations will be open through Nov. 7, the day before Election Day.

Sending in your ballot

Voters have until 8 p.m. on Election Day to return their absentee ballot to their county auditor’s office. That deadline is when absentee ballots must arrive at the county auditor’s office in order to count. The cutoff is another piece of the new law, changing Iowa’s previous practice allowing votes to count as long as they arrived before noon on the Monday following the election.

There are also new rules on who is allowed to return a voter’s completed ballot. Ballots can be returned by mail or in person, or deposited in their county’s ballot drop box. But only the voter, a housemate or immediate family member or caregiver can send in a ballot by mail or deliver it directly to the county auditor’s office. People with disabilities can designate someone else to return their ballot for them, but must follow instructions included with their mailed ballot.

Iowans can check the status of their absentee ballot on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.

Those planning to cast their ballot on Election Day should know that voting locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 8. Polls close an hour earlier than in the previous general election because of new laws.

Who’s on the ballot?

There are two federal races and six statewide races on Iowa ballots in the midterms, in addition to state legislative, county and judicial elections. Learn more about the candidates in the state’s major races here.

There’s also a state constitutional amendment Iowa voters will weigh in on: the “Keep and Bear Arms Amendment.” The proposed amendment would hold laws restricting the right to firearms to strict scrutiny, a higher legal standard. Any laws passed to restrict the sale, use and possession of firearms would need to fit a “compelling governmental interest” or be struck down.

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