Iowa City voter turnout low, but up from 2011

UPDATE: Voter turnout in Iowa City thus far on Election Day today is up slightly from the last city election in 2011, but substantially down from 2010 and 2007, which are the last two times voters considered a bar ban after 10 p.m. for the 21 and under crowd.

Iowa City elections include six candidates for three city council seats, and a vote to repeal the so called 21-only bar law, which voters supported in 2010 but rejected in 2007.

As of 11 a.m. today, 3 percent of registered voters cast a ballot at a precinct in Iowa City, or 1,476 votes. In 2011, 1,147 votes had been counted by 11 a.m. In early voting, 5,356 absentee ballots had been requested before today compared to 2,821 before the election in 2011.

In 2007, the last time the ballot included city council and 21-only votes, 2,201 people had voted by 11 a.m., and residents had requested 7,921 absentee ballots.

Iowa City will learn who the one-to-three new voices on its city council will be when all the votes are counted some time after 8 p.m. tonight.

Two of the following at-large candidates will be elected: incumbent Susan Mims, Kingsley Botchway II, Catherine Champion and Rockne Cole. Incumbent Terry Dickens or challenger Royceann Porter will claim the district B seat.

Elections in Iowa City, which typically is the hub of local political debate, has been overshadowed this year by the local and national attention for Coralville's city council races, which have become a referendum on government spending.

Still Iowa City has several key projects waiting in the wings for the new council. Terms begin in early January.

Those elected will join sitting city council members on Nov. 25 for a preliminary strategic planning session. Adopting a two-year strategic plan will be one of the new council's first big decisions.

That plan will outline spending priorities for projects, such as the Riverfront Crossing redevelopment just south of downtown, redeveloping Towncrest on the east side of Iowa City and neighborhood stabilization efforts.

Also ahead, the council will also have decide how to proceed with the Gateway Project. That project would elevate Dubuque Street, which is one of the main access points to Iowa City, to avoid flooding. The project though is contested by nearby residents, who say the project is excessive.

In the downtown area, another controversial project is waiting in the wings. The city must decide how to move forward with a plot of land where the city's recommendation of a 20-story high rise, which be the tallest in the city, was met by resistance from some in the community, including candidate Cole.