Mauro: Turnout average for GOP, low for Democrats

DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro said Tuesday he is expecting an average turnout for next week's Republican primary election and a below-average showing for Democrats.

Mauro, who serves as Iowa's commissioner of elections, said he expects 125,000 to 150,000 Republicans will cast ballots in the June 8 primary, but that number could swell to 175,000 given the party has a competitive three-way race for governor and contested battles in three of Iowa's five congressional districts. On the Democratic side, where the main attraction is a three-way race to choose an opponent for U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, Mauro expects maybe 100,000 to 125,000 Democrats will participate.

“There's activity out there,” Mauro said of the primary election interest – especially among Republicans – but he didn't think it would rise to the 206,138 Republicans who participated in the 2002 GOP primary or the 152,148 Democrats who cast primary ballots in June 2006.

This year's GOP primary includes a return to the Iowa ballot for former four-term Gov. Terry Branstad, who is opposed by five-term state Rep. Rod Roberts of Carroll and Sioux City businessman Bob Vander Plaats. Branstad's last primary election was in 1994 when he scored a 52 percent to 48 percent win over challenger Fred Grandy in a race that drew 312,475 GOP ballots and saw significant cross-over voting.

Mauro said he has not seen signs of cross-over balloting this year, however, he noted that Iowa now allows same-day registration, which could mean independents will declare a party affiliation or voters could switch parties on June 8 to participate in the primary selection process. “If people are looking for records on the Republican side, I don't think so,” he said.

On a related note, Mauro reminded voters that the deadline to request a mailed absentee ballot is this Friday at 5:00 p.m.  Absentee ballot request forms must be received by county auditors by this deadline in order to be processed. 

Absentee ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before Monday, June 7. Voters may still request absentee ballots in-person at their county auditor's office until close of business on June 7, the day before the primary election, he said. In addition, voted absentee ballots requested by mail may be hand-delivered to the county auditor's office until the close of the polls at 9 p.m. on June 8.

More information is available at www.iowavotes.gov about next week's Iowa 2010 primary election.

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