Linn County auditor takes to city buses to register voters

CEDAR RAPIDS - Joel Miller, Linn County auditor and commissioner of elections, took to the city buses on Tuesday afternoon as part of a crew of 10 to register people to vote and see if any wanted to request an absentee ballot.

'We're trying to get people engaged in the process,” Miller said on Route 7 of the city's bus system heading from the downtown Ground Transportation Center to the Kirkwood Community College area and back.

Miller said those who ride the city's public buses are an 'underserved demographic,” which he said include some who don't have their own transportation and sometimes can't easily get to a precinct polling place.

By afternoon's end, he said he and his crew registered 34 bus riders to vote and had 24 people sign cards to request an absentee ballot.

'I think it was educational,” Miller said. 'I think we met an element of the public that doesn't normally see government. Some of them took advantage of it.”

Last week, Linn County Supervisor Brent Oleson, a Republican, questioned Miller's idea of taking to city buses to register people, wondering if Miller, a Democrat, was targeting those who might be more apt to vote Democratic. Oleson asked if Miller intended to stop by the Cedar Rapids Country Club to see if members there needed easier access to voter registration.

Early voting for the Nov. 4 general election begins Thursday.

Before Nov. 4, Miller plans to use a bus to take to various locations to register voters if he can find a bus driver. His office also will operate several early-voting satellite stations at local colleges, Hy-Vee Food Stores and libraries in Cedar Rapids and Marion.