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Iowa’s rural auditors say voters ‘enthusiastic’
A third of the state’s active voters already have cast ballots
Nov. 3, 2024 5:30 am, Updated: Nov. 4, 2024 8:46 am
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Auditors in some Eastern Iowa rural counties say they’ve seen steady and higher than normal early voting — with up to 300 or so people a day coming in — but still expect a heavy turnout on Election Day.
Across the state, a third of Iowa’s active voters already have cast ballots as of Friday morning in advance of Tuesday’s general election. Since early voting began Oct. 16, election officials in the metro counties of Linn and Johnson say they’ve seen a brisk pace of early voting — but the same also has been true in rural counties, which often do not have the resources to run satellite voting centers off-site to help handle a rush.
Monday is the last day to cast an early vote. Voters who requested an absentee ballot must have it returned to their county auditor — and not just postmarked — by 8 p.m. Tuesday, the time polls close.
Iowa’s early voting so far
As of Friday morning, 556,265 people have voted early for Tuesday’s general election. That’s a third of the people — 1,680,803 — listed as “active voters” by the Iowa Secretary of State. Under a 2021 law, Iowans who missed voting in a general election are moved from being active to inactive but still remain eligible to vote.
Here is how the early voting breaks down:
Republicans: 221,183, 33% of active GOP voters
Democrats: 219,848, 44% of active Democratic voters
No party: 112,110, 22% of active no party voters
Libertarian: 2,671, 24% of active Libertarian voters
Other party: 453, 19% of active other party voters
Source: Iowa Secretary of State
Several Eastern Iowa auditors say they have heard from voters they are skeptical the Postal Service would return their ballots by the deadline and are sometimes bringing in their completed ballots themselves — or are turning to early voting, which is busier than in past presidential elections with the exception of 2020, during the height of the pandemic.
Jones County Auditor Whitney Hein said even with some 180 early voters a day — which the office saw the week of Oct. 21 — she expects a large turnout on Election Day. The office added three temporary workers to help handle absentee voting.
Jones County saw over 4,000 requests for absentee ballots, but the in-person voting exceeded her expectations, Hein said.
Voters this fall don’t seem to have much “faith” in the postal system, she said, and many of the absentee ballots were being returned in person. That was part of the office’s reasoning for adding the temporary workers, along with the need to accommodate curbside voters, which is an option at all auditor’s offices.
In addition to the candidates, there are public measures on the ballot this year in Jones County, so voting may take longer than usual, noted Hein.
Of the 4,091 absentee requests in Jones County, 1,218 were returned by mail and 2,581 voted in person as of Friday morning, according to the Iowa Secretary of State. Of those absentees, there were 1,244 Democrats, 1,624 Republicans, 981 no party and nine Libertarians.
Benton County Auditor Hayley Rippel agreed with Hein, saying voters don’t seem to trust the mailing system and are delivering absentee ballots in person or voting early. About 100 to 140 voters per day have been coming in, but the 207 on Oct. 25 marked the highest day for the county.
Benton County had 3,443 absentees ballots requested with 2,065 voting in person and 593 by mail as of Friday morning.
Voters “seem to be more enthusiastic this year,” said Rippel, who was elected in 2016 and has worked in the auditor’s office for 26 years. “We’ve had first-time adult voting and younger people voting for the first-time.”
Rippel said the office opened an overflow room with 10 voting booths in preparation for absentee voters.
In addition to some voters not realizing they must request an absentee ballot each election year if they chose to vote remotely, some forget to sign their absentee ballots before sending them in.
Cedar County Auditor Stephanie Wiese said two weeks ago she had 10 ballots without signatures, so officials needed to track down those voters and ask them to come in and sign so the ballots would count.
Cedar County had between about 120 and 194 voting daily, Wiese said. The busiest day during the week of Oct. 21 saw 231 early voters.
Cedar County had 3,885 absentee ballots requested and 2,392 voted in person and 989 by mail as of Friday. There were 1,265 Democrats, 1,628 Republicans, 835 no party and 15 Libertarians, according to the statistics.
Muscatine County Auditor Tibe Vander Linden said the voting in person has been steady over the last two weeks, usually averaging between 276 to 305 voters a day. The office also received some absentee ballots in person instead of by mail.
There were 7,039 requested absentee ballots in Muscatine County. As of Friday, 4,301 voted in person and 2,004 were returned by mail.
Iowa County has seen about 140 early voters each day, Auditor Brandy Enochson said, which is higher than usual. Traffic usually picks up closer to Election Day, but it has been busy this fall since the first day of early voting.
There were 3,428 absentee ballots requested in Iowa County. As of Friday, 1,767 voted in person and 1,151 were returned by mail. Of those, 972 were Democrats, 1,546 Republicans, 751 no party and 22 Libertarians.
‘Important to be part of the voting process’
For the last two weeks, auditors were busy training precinct election officials or poll workers, who have to attend before each election regardless of whether they volunteered in previous years.
Some of the auditors said they increased the number of poll workers because they still are expecting a large number of voters on Election Day.
Hein said Jones County is fortunate to have a standing panel of precinct workers each election because some counties struggle to get workers. For this election, the county has 64, including eight additional special precinct board members, who count absentee votes. Of the 64, 15 are first-timers and the rest are “veterans.”
Vander Linden said Muscatine County has 175, which also includes experienced poll workers mixed with first-timers.
Cindy Clark, 69, of Muscatine, has been a Muscatine County precinct worker for three years and now is a precinct chair. She also was helping in the auditor’s office during early voting in October. She started working elections when she retired as an legal administrator for a law firm. She was interested in what happens after someone casts a ballot — “how the process works.”
Clark recommended taking on the duty to anyone like her who is interested in the process, which has checks and balances.
“Everything is accounted for and very secure,” Clark said. “The system won’t let a person have more than one ballot. The computers (election tabulators) aren’t connected to the internet, as some think.”
Stacie Gorkow, 52, of Van Horne, agreed, saying if an individual distrusts the system, becoming a poll worker would help show how votes are checked and double checked. She has been Benton County precinct worker since 2012 and is now a chair.
“It’s important to be part of the voting process,” Gorkow, who is also a substitute teacher, said. “You do volunteer but it’s a paid position. You’re usually working with people you know and it’s fun meeting all the people in your community.”
Gorkow said Election Day is a long day for poll workers and they can’t leave a poll location — so most bring their lunch or have it delivered. The workers stay until the votes are all checked and tallied. Then the chairs at various precinct sites usually have to return the supplies to the auditor’s office at the end of the day, which is typically 9 p.m. or later.
The write-in votes usually take the longest to go through, Gorkow said.
“I’m passionate about the right to vote and that every vote counts, but it seems like people waste their votes when they write in Mickey Mouse or some other silly name, Gorkow said. “Sometimes, they also vote for themselves or another person not even on the ballot. And if those are spelled differently — Mickey or Micky — we have to count those as separate votes, which take longer to tally.”
Jim Magdefrau, 67, of Van Horne, said he would recommend being a poll worker to anyone who wants to give back to the community. He started working in 2016 when an auditor recruited him.
Magdefrau has worked many election nights as a reporter and editor for nearly 40 years before he retired from the former Star Press Union, now part of the Hometown Current. This work keeps him involved and allows him to help others by answering questions and helping them through the process.
“The most important thing is to get out and vote,” Magdefrau said. “Keep the system working.”
All the precinct workers said they have encountered only a few situations where voters were angry or upset, such as long lines or when the workers ask them to show their identification — even if the worker knows them. The precinct workers are usually taught some de-escalation techniques in training as a precaution.
Gorkow said they are taught to check everybody’s form of identification because “it’s all about perception and treating everyone the same.”
Hein said while these precinct workers get paid, the hours spent in training, on Election Day, and doing duties before and after Election Day doesn’t make it a “very high paying gig.” Most regard it as their civic duty, she said.
The pay varies from county to county. As examples, Muscatine pays $160 for full day; Jones County pay $175 a day and a chair receives $225 plus mileage; and Iowa County pays $130 a day and a chair receives $150. All also receive mileage if they drive over 5 miles, which is Iowa law.
Their duties include attending training and learning election laws, setting up polling locations and operating the equipment on Election Day. Chairs have additional duties. All the poll workers put in at least 16 hours — which includes before- and after-election time.
At each polling place, there must be an equal number of Democrat and Republican precinct workers under Iowa law, Vander Linden pointed out.
There also can be precinct workers with no political affiliation, but “generally to keep the bipartisan team status, there can be no more than one at a polling place with a no party status,” Hein said.
Comments: (319) 398-8318; trish.mehaffey@thegazette.com
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