Election Day is officially Tuesday, November 3, however one could argue that the 2020 General Election truly begins in just a couple weeks.
On Monday, October 5, county auditors across the state will start to allow in-person voting at their offices and begin the process of mailing out general election ballots to voters who have requested to vote absentee.
"That's what's special about Iowa. We have a lot of options and Iowans like to have choices," said Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate. "November 3rd is not the one and only day. Every day is an Election Day for somebody that is casting a ballot in Iowa."
Ballot Request Bombardment
The State of Iowa has always had a very flexible system for voters that want to cast their vote early, but having a highly contested Presidential election during a deadly pandemic has put a spotlight on the state's absentee voting system.
In a typical election, the state often sees between 35-60% of voters using the absentee ballot process, but with more people inclined to avoid crowded polling areas this year, that percentage is expected to significantly increase.
"I think the state average will easily exceed 60%," said Pate. "If it's not a record year, it's going to be pretty close."
The Secretary of State's office recently mailed out absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state, but it's likely that mailer is far from the only ballot request form voters have received in the last several weeks. Voter advocacy organizations and political parties have been extremely proactive in this election, mass mailing ballot request forms to make sure every potential voter has a chance to apply.
With so many ballot request forms being sent out and high profile figures casting doubt on the validity of voting by mail, there are some misconceptions about the security of the absentee voting process and its ability to keep track of who is voting.
Contrary to what some might assume, receiving multiple applications for an absentee ballot is not a sign of a scheme to commit voter fraud. The application form is freely available on the Secretary of State's website to be printed out by anybody and while Iowa courts have ruled that state entities cannot use voter registration data to pre-fill some of the information on the forms, private organizations such as the Center for Voter Information or the Iowa Voter Project have no such restrictions.
Regardless of how many request forms out there, each voter still only gets one vote. When a county auditor receives an absentee ballot request, that request is checked against the voter's registration information and that voter is designated to receive an absentee ballot. Once a voter is marked to receive a ballot, the county's computer system will not assign another one, so even if the county receives multiple request forms, only one ballot will be issued.
In Cerro Gordo County, County Auditor Adam Wedmore says that his staff has already received doubles and even triples of applications, mostly from people who have received multiple application forms and sent them in just to be sure.
"That's absolutely fine," said Wedmore. "It's not attempting voter fraud or anything."
If somebody does send multiple ballot request forms, those forms will be filed together. In the event that there is conflicting information between the forms, county auditors will contact the voter to make sure the correct information is on file.
"We'll start an investigation to determine if it's accidental," said Wedmore. "We check multiple fields to make sure that voter is that voter."
Those that send in an absentee ballot request can even track the status of their request through the Secretary of State's website, letting them know that their request has been processed. Outside of that, voters can also call or e-mail their local county auditor to check on the status of their ballot request.
Voting Begins In October
Next week, on October 5, auditors will finally start the process of mailing out ballots.
To receive an absentee ballot by mail, the request form must be delivered to the county auditor's office by Saturday, October 24.
The process can be done entirely through the mail or the voter can take care of it during a single trip to their local courthouse at any point between October 5 and the day before the election. Some county auditors will even be open on Saturdays during the weekends before the election in order to make sure everybody has a chance to get in.
"You can still come to our office and fill out an absentee request form there, or just fill it out before you come and drop it off," said Franklin County Auditor Michelle Giddings. "There's no excuse why somebody can't vote."
One way or another, ballots must be returned to the auditor by Monday, November 2. If a ballot isn't in before then, the voter will have to vote at a polling place on Election Day.
Typically, most voters wait until Election Day to cast their ballot, however since the COVID-19 pandemic began, absentee voting has skyrocketed in popularity. During the primary election earlier this year, some counties saw the ratio between absentee voting and in-person voting completely invert and that trend is expected to continue for the upcoming general election.
Tallying The Absentee Vote
Absentee voting may be more convenient for some voters, but it does come with some additional logistic steps for county auditors. Anticipating a significantly higher percentage of absentee ballots, auditors are shoring up their staff and volunteers to make sure they can be processed in a timely manner.
"We've forwarded significant federal grant money to the counties to help pay for the additional help and machinery," said Pate.
In Cerro Gordo County, Wedmore has assembled a 35-member bi-partisan absentee board that will meet at 8:00 a.m. on Monday, November 2 to start reviewing every single absentee ballot that his office has received.
The board will be split into teams of three and review ballots in groups of 200 at a time to make sure they are properly filled out. Each ballot package is assigned a tracking number and its journey is documented from the voter's hands through the county auditor's office right up until the moment it is removed from the secrecy envelope.
"I can tell you who touched it and when," said Wedmore.
From there the ballots will be stacked, sealed, and stored in a vault until counting begins on Monday night. Two computer systems, completely isolated from any outside network, will scan the ballots and tally the results, which will be posted when the polls close at 9:00 p.m. on Election Day.
From there, the tallied absentee votes will be reported in the same way as any other precinct.
Wedmore's absentee board has already run simulated trials to make sure they will be able to process the anticipated high number of absentee ballots, however he says he would welcome a bit of additional breathing room.
By law, the earliest that absentee ballot counting can begin is the day before the election. However, the Secretary of State is seeking permission to allow counties to get a head start on the process.
"I have put in a request before the legislating council to extend that processing time to the Saturday before the election because of what we perceive to be a high amount of absentee activity," said Pate.
In-Person Voting Still An Option
Making sure that traditional polling places will be properly staffed and equipped has been a major challenge for auditors across the state.
Due to the pandemic, auditors have struggled to find volunteers and to make sure that polling places can facilitate social distancing. Because poll workers are traditionally older volunteers in high risk health categories, many have understandably declined to staff a polling location in this election.
"We need 10,000 folks to help us out and with COVID there are some unique challenges there," said Pate. "That's a big issue."
During the primary election earlier this year some auditors made the decision to consolidate their polling locations into fewer locations, with some counties operating just a single location for voters to cast their ballot in person. Since then, the state legislature has mandated that a county auditor cannot reduce the number of their polling places by more than 35%, forcing auditors to staff and operate at least two-thirds of their normal polling locations.
In Wright County, County Auditor Betty Ellis reduced her polling places to one during the primary election, utilizing the Red Shed Event Center in Clarion to make sure that voters were able to keep spread out as they went through the process. For the general election, Ellis said the county’s normal polling places would be open, though the Clarion and rural precincts that usually vote at the Wright County Courthouse will go to the Red Shed again.
