COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — In-person absentee voting lines were long at the Pottawattamie County courthouse on Monday. Auditor Melvyn Houser said lines have been longer than he's ever seen.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
In-person absentee voters in Pott. County have exceeded 600 people per day in the last few days of voting.
I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel at the Pottawattamie County courthouse where I spoke with a few voters who told me they were surprised by the big turnout.
Geoff Chenoweth: “This really makes me happy to see this many people voting because I’ve seen so many elections where the election was 23% maybe 30% participation rate.”
Council bluffs neighbor Goeff Chenoweth was near the back of the line. He says the turnout made him proud.
Christien was voting for the first time. He says he didn’t trust mailing in his vote after ballot drop boxes were set on fire last week in the Pacific Northwest. His top issue?
Christien: “I typically believe in our Second Amendment rights and I don’t think that anybody should be infringing on that.”
Nineteen-year-old Jay, says abortion rights is top of mind: “If I’m being honest that’s the main thing that drove me to vote because it feels like that’s a very important issue for me.”
Pottawattamie County Auditor Melvyn Houser says it’s the longest he’s seen the line. The 18 members of the bipartisan absentee voting board will count the votes on Tuesday.
Hauser: “It’s quite a process to see how quick and accurate that machine is. It’s been tested and retested.”
Remember that Iowa voters must bring an I.D. and the polls are open on Tuesday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. I’m your southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter Katrina Markel in Council Bluffs.
