Statewide Iowa – Well over half a million Iowans have already voted in this year’s election. Becky Bissell — president of the Iowa State Association of County Auditors — says that’s about 25 percent of registered voters.
Nearly a million ballots were cast before election day four years ago, as many Iowa voters opted for mail-in voting during the pandemic. Bissell, who is the Adams County Auditor, says early voting in Iowa this year is similar to 2016.
The majority of ballots that have already been cast this year are from Iowans who went to their county auditor’s office, or a satellite location to vote. For those who requested an absentee ballot, got it in the mail, but haven’t mailed it back yet — Bissell has some advice.
Election workers may begin counting the early “absentee” votes at 7 a.m. on Election Day. That’s the same time all neighborhood precincts open for in-person voting.
By 7 a.m. Thursday, over 517-thousand early votes had been cast in Iowa.
