(Spirit Lake)– We’re just weeks away from the combined city/school elections on November 2nd. Jordan Moyer, elections clerk with the Dickinson County Auditor’s Office, says absentee voting will take place October 13th through November 1st, in the Election Room at the courthouse. She says the time you’ll be able to vote absentee through the mail has also been shortened. Moyer says you can do that October 13th through October 18th…
“Absentee ballot request forms must include the date the request is signed, and the request forms may not be sent to a voter by the County Auditor unless a voter requests a form. Absentee ballot request forms may be sent to the voters by candidates, political groups and other private organizations, but no fields on a request form may be pre-filled except for the type and date of the election.”
Moyer says under the changes, all absentee ballots must be received by the County Auditor’s Office by 8:00 pm on Election Day, November 2nd…
“Post marks or bar codes printed on the ballot envelopes will no longer make a ballot received after election day valid, except for those ballots from participants that are in the Safe At Home program, received by the Secretary of State Office in time to be transmitted by us by noon on the Monday following the election, and that also includes the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens received by noon on Monday as well. And another change that they have is the only people who may return a voted absentee ballot to the county Auditor’s Office other than the voter, are somebody living in the voter’s household like an immediate family member or the special precinct election officials who deliver a ballot to the resident of a healthcare facility or a delivery agent of a voter who’s unable to return a ballot due to blindness or disability.”
Moyer adds you can still register to vote by mail, online, or in person at the Auditor’s Office…
“You can go onto our website and print off a voter registration form; you can register to vote in person at our office by, on, October 18th by 5:00 pm; and you can also go online to register to vote. A lot of people, I would say, is just to google register to vote in Iowa and it will bring up a link you can go to, or you can go on to our Secretary of State’s Office which is sos.iowa.gov and follow the online voter registration link, and an Iowa driver’s license or non-operator I.D. is required for online registration.”
Moyer says you can also register to vote on election day, but you’ll need to have proof of identity and residency.
