Southeast Iowa voters who do not want to wait for Election Day have started casting their ballots. There are no restrictions on who can vote early.
In-person voting is now available during office hours at the offices of the County Auditor in Lee County (Ft. Madison), Des Moines County (Burlington) and Van Buren County (Keosauqua).
There is also a voting booth set up at the South Lee County Courthouse in Keokuk.
Each location will also be open for in-person voting on Saturday, Oct. 27 and Saturday, Nov. 3.
Satellite voting will also be made available in Lee and Des Moines Counties based on petitions with more than 100 signatures.
Lee County Election Coordinator Denise Fraise says there will be four booths set up before Election Day, 3 of which will be in Fort Madison with the 4th in Keokuk.
She says specific locations/dates/times have yet to be determined.
Des Moines County Election Coordinator Terri Johnson says a satellite voting booth will be set up at Southeastern Community College in West Burlington on Tuesday, Oct. 23 from 10:00 A.M. – 4:00 P.M.
The deadline to pre-register to vote is Saturday, Oct. 27. Registration will also be allowed on Election Day, but it requires a valid photo ID at that point.
It’s estimated that more than 40% of the votes cast in southeast Iowa will be cast early this fall.
That is due in part to Lee County mailing out about 2,900 absentee ballots on Wednesday, Sept. 26 while Des Moines County shipped out more than 3,300.
Van Buren County Auditor Jon Finney says his office has processed more than 150 requests.
Absentee ballots can still be requested in-person at the auditors’ offices or by calling each office.
Lee County – (319) 372-3705, Des Moines County – (319) 753-8232, Van Buren County – (319) 293-3129.
They can also be requested online through the Iowa Secretary of State’s website or the websites for Lee County, Des Moines County, or Van Buren County.
