GLENWOOD, Iowa (KMTV) — Absentee voting started in Iowa on Wednesday. Mills County Election Assistant Katie Dodge recommends voters do a little homework on local races before showing up to the polls. There's a lot more on the ballot than just the presidential race.
- Dodge wants voters to be reassured that elections are secure and fair: “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a partisan election like this general election coming up or whether it's a city/school election that we have in odd number years." “I need to have party balance at the polls. It means I have to have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.”
- Pam and Alan Been were at the courthouse early Wednesday. It was the presidential race that got them out. “I think that everyone in the United States should vote because it is their country as well as mine, or my husband’s or anybody else’s, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican,” Pam Been said.
- Iowa has a voter ID law and voters should arrive with a government-issued ID.
- For more information, voters can contact their county auditor's office.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Wednesday is the first day of absentee voting in Iowa.
I’m Southwest Iowa neighborhood reporter, Katrina Markel.
I’m at the Mills County Courthouse in Glenwood. There’s been a steady stream of neighbors coming into the courthouse to vote.
Nebraskans started voting last week, which caused some confusion with Iowans who wanted to fill out their ballots. Mills County Election Assistant Katie Dodge says they’re getting a lot of questions about the local races on the ballot this year.
“We have a contested Board of Supervisors race with five candidates on that race, so that’s one that a lot of people are interested in,” she said.
Presidential races tend to increase voter turnout but...
“There’s a lot of stuff on this ballot.”
Pam and Alan Been were at the courthouse early Wednesday. It was the presidential race that got them out.
“I think that everyone in the United States should vote because it is their country as well as mine, or my husband’s or anybody else’s, whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican,” Pam Been said.
Local election officials say false information about the safety of elections makes their jobs harder. Voting equipment, for example, is tested.
“So, not a single piece of voting equipment can go out to a polls without it being certified through a public test,” Dodge said.
She wants voters to understand that elections are run by their neighbors, including the trained volunteers.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a partisan election like this general election coming up or whether it's a city/school election that we have in odd number years,” she said. “I need to have party balance at the polls. It means I have to have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats.”
Absentee ballots are counted at the courthouse on election day by an absentee board.
Dodge recommends voters check with the auditor’s office for information on local races before voting.
Iowa also has a voter ID law, so be prepared with a government-issued ID.
