Voting In Iowa

To be eligible to vote in Iowa, you must be:

• A citizen of the United States
• A resident of Iowa
• At least 18 years old on Election Day
  NOTE: If you are 17½ years old, you may register to vote, but your registration will not be effective until your 18th birthday
• Not convicted of a felony (and if you have, you must have had your voting rights restored)
• Not currently been judged by a court as incompetent to vote
• Not voting in any other place

If you move within the county where you are registered to vote, you may change your address before the close of registration:

• By notifying the county auditor in writing. Include your full name as it appears on the voter registration records, your old and new addresses, and your signature. If more than one person is submitting a change, each person must sign the notice.
• By completing a new registration form.
• By making the change in person at the county auditor's office or other registration sites.

Registration forms:

• English Voter Registration Form
• Guidelines for Registering Voters

To register to vote in Iowa, you must provide an Iowa driver's license number if you have one. If not, put the number of your Iowa non-driver ID card. If you have neither of these, put the last four numbers of your Social Security number. NOTE: Your name, birth date and ID number will be checked. If they don't match, your registration will be rejected and you will be notified by mail.

You may need to show indentification at the poll if:

• You registered to vote by mail after January 1, 2003 and you have never voted in a primary or general election in your county of residence
• Your registration is inactive
• You have moved from the address where you are registered to vote
• Your right to vote is challenged
• The precinct election officials do not know you

You can use any of these forms of identification:

• Current and valid photo ID card
• Copy of a current document that shows your name and address, such as: a utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck

You may register in person on Election Day if you could not register earlier. If you choose to register by mail, the form must be postmarked 15 days before an election, A registration form postmarked at least 15 days before an election will be accepted for that election even if it is received after the deadline to register to vote. Registration is permanent. After you register, you do not have to register again unless you move.

Mailed voter registration forms that are postmarked 15 days before an election are considered on time even if they are received after 5:00 pm on the day of the deadline.

In person voter registration deadline is ON Election Day at the polls. Be sure to bring the correct Voter ID to the polls if you choose this option.

To verify your voter registration status, please click here or contact your elections office or board of elections for your county, city or state.

Applications for absentee ballots can be obtained online in a PDF format, or mailed upon request from the Secretary of State.

You can also request a ballot by mailing the application to the county auditor/commissioner of elections in the county where you are registered. If the application is received so late that it is unlikely that the absentee ballot can be returned by mail in time to be counted on Election Day, the commissioner shall enclose with the absentee ballot a statement to that effect. You can also hand deliver the ballot on Election Day before the polls close.

When requesting an absentee ballot, state your name, voting address, the address to which your ballot should be sent, and sign the request. Absentee votes may be cast in person at your county election office (county auditor) as soon as ballots are available.

For a request to be processed, your county auditor must receive the completed request form by 5:00 pm on the Friday before the election.

Only one person may request a ballot on each request form. Two or more people cannot share a request form. You must use a separate request form for each election for which you are requesting a ballot. Ballots for primary and general elections will be available at least 40 days before the election. If the auditor receives your request more than 40 days before the election, your request will be filed and your ballot will be mailed when they are available. The auditor will mail you a ballot either within 24 hours of receiving your request form, or within 24 hours of when the ballots become available.

In order for the ballot to be counted, the carrier envelope must be received in the commissioner's office before the polls close on Election Day. Otherwise, the envelope should be clearly postmarked by an officially authorized postal service no later than the day before the election, and received by the commissioner no later than noon on the Monday following the election. If you are a qualified elector who becomes a patient or resident of a hospital or health care facility within three days prior to the date of an election, you may request an absentee ballot during that period or on Election Day.

Overseas citizens and U.S. military personnel can find information on how to register to vote and request an absentee ballot at the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Early voting is available in Iowa beginning 40 days before an election. Early voting is completed in the county auditor's office and the last day to cast an early vote is the Monday before an election.

The next election will be held Tuesday, December 1, 2009 (Saturday, November 21, 2009: Pre-Registration Deadline) (Special Election for specific counties.)

The following statewide elections are scheduled to take place in 2010:

Please utilize your state's resource for information on local elections.

In order to be a poll worker in Iowa:

• You must be registered to vote in Iowa
• You must be at least 18 years of age
• Political affiliation required
• You will be entitled to compensation
• Must be a resident of the county
• You must complete required training
• High school junior and senior students may work if they meet certain statutory requirements

To sign up, contact your local board of elections.

Polls are open from 7:00 am to 9:00 pm.

Employers must grant employees three hours of paid leave to vote, unless polls are open three consecutive before or after regular working shift.

You can find your polling place by utilizing Iowa State Polling Place Locator Tool.

If you have further questions on your polling place location, please contact your county clerk.

If your name is not on the list of registered voters, or if someone challenges your right to vote, you have the right to cast a provisional ballot. Your ballot will be put in an envelope. The envelope has a place for you to explain why you believe that the ballot should count. A special board will meet after Election Day to look at your registration record and the information you have provided. The board will then decide if your ballot can be counted. Before you leave the polls, you will be given a written notice explaining your voting rights and listing the date on which the special ballot board will meet. If your ballot is not counted, you will receive a letter in the mail explaining why it cannot be counted.

The voting systems used in Idaho are optical scan and Hand counted paper ballots. Hand counted paper ballots are used only for elections in sparsely populated jurisdictions, particularly when all offices will be filled by write in votes.

Optical Scanning: With this system, you will recieve a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. In some places, you can check your card or paper right there at the polling place by feeding it into a card-reading machine to make sure you have voted the way you want to. When you are finished filling out all the cards. You may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that counts the votes. When Election Day is over, the computer counts how many votes were cast for each candidate.

Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used on Election Day. Paper ballots are mostly used for absentee ballots. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box. At the end of the day, votes are counted by poll workers reading the ballots.

If you need help marking your ballot because of a disability or because you can't read English, any person you choose may help you, except your employer, your employer's agent or an officer or agent of your union. If you want help from the precinct workers, one person from each political party will help you. You will need to sign a form indicating that you asked for help. All voting instructions at the polls are printed in large type.

If you cannot get into the polling place because of a disability, two precinct workers will bring a ballot to your vehicle. They may also help you mark the ballot, but only if you request assistance. You do not have to tell anyone ahead of time that you will need to vote in your car. However, you may want to call ahead or bring someone with you to tell the precinct workers that you need to vote in your car.

If you have questions or concerns about voting accessibility, please contact your county auditor's office or your Secretary of State's office. A voter guide is also available on audio cassette from the Library for the Blind. To request one you can call 515-281-1333 or 1-800-362-2587. Each precinct also provides a braille version of voter instructions and voter rights.

For information on federal campaign contributions, please visit Open Secrets.

For information on state campaign contributions, please visit state's resource.