Absentee Ballots And Early Voting Now Available

Northwest Iowa — Absentee ballots for the Tuesday, November 6th general election are now available from the County Auditor’s Office in your county.

Absentee voting has been on the rise in Iowa. Many political campaigns have been suggesting early voting, saying “life is uncertain.” They want to make sure you have the opportunity to vote, no matter what happens in your life on election day.

Auditors offices tell us that absentee ballots may be requested at your county auditor’s office from 8:00 to 4:30, Monday through Friday. To obtain an absentee ballot, you need to have the proper form. You can obtain the form in person at the Auditor’s office, or by mail. The forms are also available online at the Iowa Secretary of State’s website. CLICK HERE for the form.

According to Sioux County Election Administrator Lisa Rowenhorst, all requests must be on an official absentee request application and must be signed by the voter, one form per voter. She says that you can also vote in-person at the Auditor’s office, and at this time, no ID is required for that type of voting. Rowenhorst emphasized that you may NOT fill out a request form, drop it off, and expect to take a ballot out of the Auditor’s office — for yourself or anyone else. The two options are voting right there and then, or having it mailed to your address. No ballots leave the Auditor’s office except by mail. So if you’re going to drop off the form, you should know how you’re going to vote when you go, or expect a few days’ delay for the ballot to come in the mail. You may drop off filled-out and signed ballot request forms for others, but the ballots will have to be mailed to the voters.

Rowenhorst says that voted ballots may be mailed back, but they must be postmarked on or before November 5th, 2018 and must be received in their office no later than noon on November 13th, 2018. They may also be dropped off at the Auditor’s office in person no later than 9:00 p.m. on Election Day.

You can also register to vote now. Iowa does have same-day voter registration, but the auditors do ask that if possible you register before election day to help avoid longer waits at the polls.

Polls will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m on Tuesday, November 6th, 2018. Polling places have not changed since the primary election, according to the Auditors’ offices in Lyon, O’Brien, Osceola, and Sioux counties.

Below are links to northwest Iowa SAMPLE ballots. Again, these are only samples. To get a votable ballot, you must submit a request to your Auditor’s office on a special form.

Click here to find your precinct, then click the appropriate link below to see what your ballot will look like when you get it:

O’Brien County (all precincts)

Osceola County
Osceola 1
Ashton, Harris, May City, Melvin and Osceola 2
Osceola 3

Lyon County
George
Doon
Inwood
Larchwood
Lester
Little Rock
Rock Rapids 7
Rock Rapids 8