Northwest Iowa — This Wednesday is the first day that Iowa county auditors’ offices can send out absentee ballots for the June 7th Primary Election. It’s also the first day you can vote in person at the auditor’s office, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office.
However, they tell us that the last day to turn in an absentee ballot request by mail is less than a week away — Monday, May 23rd. People have been able to send in their absentee ballot request forms since March, but this Wednesday is the first day they can actually be sent out.
However, you can vote in person at the auditor’s office from this Wednesday until the day before the election, Monday, June 6th.
Lyon County Auditor Jen Smit says that in her county, at least, there is a pretty short turn-around time from when they receive the absentee ballot request until they send it out. She says they have a backlog of about 60 requests, but they should be able to take care of all of those in one day, and after that, they will send out ballots within 24 hours of receiving a request during weekdays, with a slightly longer delay due to the weekend if the request is received on Friday.
Absentee ballots can be requested for anyone in person if you have the form that they filled out and signed. But no ballots can leave the auditors’ offices by any other method than by mail. As far as returning the voted ballots, you can also do that in person at the auditor’s office if that’s more convenient for you. No matter how they get to the auditor’s office, they must be received by the end of the business day on election day.
Just a reminder — the election on June 7th is a PRIMARY election, the purpose of which is to select candidates for the political parties for the November General Election. As such, voters will need to choose a party when they request their ballot.
Also, if you vote on your absentee ballot but neglect to turn it in until election day, you have a choice. You can either deliver it in person to the auditor’s office, or you can surrender your absentee ballot at the poll, and vote on a regular ballot.
