Dickinson Co. Election Officials Announce Change In In-Person Absentee Voting Site

(Spirit Lake)– Local officials have finalized some additional details for the November 3^rd General Election. Jordan Moyer of the Dickinson County Auditor’s Office says those planning to vote in person that day will be doing so at the same sites as where they voted for the 2019 school board elections…Election Details01 

“Precinct one is going to go to the Lake Park Community Building; Precincts two, three, four, 12, 13, 14 and 15 will go to the Expo Building; precincts six and seven will go to the Terril Memorial Building; precincts eight, nine and 10 will go to the Milford Community Building; and precincts five and 11 will be going to the Roof Garden.”

Regarding the Roof Garden location, Moyer says Arnolds Park officials will allow voters to park that day along Lake Street in spite of the no parking signs that are there. She adds if you don’t know what precinct you live in, you can find that out by going to the Dickinson County Auditor’s or the Iowa Secretary of State’s website to get that information.

Moyer adds there’s been a major change for those planning to vote absentee in person. Earlier plans called for that to be done in the Supervisors meeting room at the courthouse. She says they’ve had second thoughts about that…Election Details02 

“We decided that because there’s going to be, we’re expecting you know atleast a couple thousand people to be walking through the courthouse and with that south hallway being just too confined we decided that the old Paul’s Body Shop would be a better adjustment for us with having people being able to social distance and get through there and be able to have that six feet in between.”

The old Paul’s Body Shop was also used for in-person absentee voting in the June Primary Election. In person absentee voting for the November 3rd election begins October 5th and runs through November 2nd.

And when it comes to mail-in requests for absentee ballots, Moyer says the numbers continue to swell…Election Details03 

“I just entered in number 3,495 so I’m assuming we’re going to have atleast 4,000 by the end of the week I’m assuming. A lot of people have been calling with questions and there’s been a lot of confusion with people receiving umpteen thousand absentee request forms in the mail. They’re getting, you know, between four and five. Just make sure you only need to turn in one.”

Moyer adds they’ve been ensured by local postal officials that ballots being returned through the mail will be handled in an efficient and timely manner. However she says anyone with concerns about ballots being returned can just drop them off in dropbox at the west entrance of the Dickinson County Courthouse once they’ve been filled out.