Two Satellite Early Voting Station Events Planned In O’Brien County

Date posted - September 28, 2012

Primghar, Iowa — Early voting is becoming more and more popular, for several reasons.

O’Brien County Auditor Barb Rohwer says that in addition to voting by mail or in person at the Auditor’s office, her office was also petitioned to have satellite early voting stations this year. So, she says they will have two early voting events — one in Sheldon and one in Hartley in the coming weeks.

#1
• Sheldon Hy-Vee
• Friday, October 19
• 1 PM to 7 PM

#2
• Hartley Public Library
• Wednesday, October 24
• 1 PM to 7 PM

She also says that if you’re going to vote at one of the early voting satellite stations, it doesn’t matter where in the county you live — they will have all ballots for all precincts available at both early voting events.

Rohwer says you may also request an absentee ballot to fill out before the event, and then turn it in at the event.

She says the person who turned in the petitions to ask the county to have satellite early voting stations said that they just wanted to make sure that every avenue and opportunity was given to the public.

The auditor’s office will also be open extended hours — on two Saturdays before the election, says Rohwer.

They’ll be open on Saturday, October 27th from 8 to 5 for both registration and absentee voting. They’ll also be open on Saturday, November 3 from 9 to 5 for absentee voting. You can also register to vote that day, but it will be more like registering at the polls. You’ll need a photo id, current address, or someone to vouch for you.

Of course you may also vote the old-fashioned way — at the polls the day of the election. In fact, as we alluded to, you can even register to vote at the polls. But Rohwer encourages people to take care of that ahead of time if they have the opportunity, as registering at the polls slows down the whole process.

She says it’s helpful to get any paperwork taken care of ahead of time.

Any Iowa voter may request an absentee ballot if they expect they cannot go to the polls on election day. Voting an absentee ballot may be done in one of three methods:

1. Voters may vote in-person in their county auditor’s office during the regular business hours. The last day that a voter can vote an absentee ballot at the county auditor’s office is Monday, November 5th. Regular business hours for Iowa county auditors can be found by clicking on the relevant county at this link: http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/auditors/auditorslist.html

2. Voters may request an absentee ballot be mailed. The last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is Friday, November 2nd at 5:00. If you request a ballot by mail, it must be returned to the county auditor’s office by the following deadlines:

· In-person delivery – Tuesday, November 6th by 9:00 PM

· Mail delivery – postmarked no later than Monday, November 5th and received no later than 12:00 PM on Tuesday, November 13th. Postmarks are not guaranteed. Please mail your ballot early to make sure it is received on time.

3. Satellite voting stations are offered in some locations. Check with your local county auditor’s office to see if satellite voting is available.

A voter who chooses to vote an absentee ballot by one of these methods will be asked to fill out an official Iowa absentee ballot request form.

Persons soliciting absentee ballot request forms while acting as an agent for a political party or candidate must offer a receipt to the voter for the completed request form.

Track your absentee ballot at https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/absenteeballotstatus/search.aspx.

Additional information and the official absentee ballot request form can be found at http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html