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Early Voting for 2018 Ahead of 2014 Pace in Southeast Iowa

Election Day is still a few days away and roughly 20% of the registered voters in Lee and Des Moines Counties have already cast their ballots.

The Lee County Auditor’s Office, for example, said that as of Friday, November 2, it had already received in excess of 600 more requests for early ballots compared to the 2014 mid-term election. There have also been about 100 more completed ballots turned in compared to four years ago.

That’s despite the fact the Iowa Legislature reduced the early voting period from roughly six weeks to about four weeks.

Auditor Denise Fraise said the biggest increase is in-person voting either in the North Lee County Office Building in Fort Madison or the South Lee County Courthouse in Keokuk.

“There’s been a lot of times here where we are overwhelmed with people,” said Fraise. “They kind of come in spurts. They are expressing that this is a very important election and they want to vote.”

Des Moines County Auditor Terri Johnson said her office is also seeing an increase in early voting as well. She said there have been plenty of times when lines have formed with people trying to cast their ballots before Election Day.

The Lee and Des Moines County Auditor’s offices will be open on Saturday, Nov. 3 for early voting from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and early voting will continue on Monday.

Early Voting – Overall (2018 vs 2014)

Lee County 

Early ballots returned:

  • 2018 – 5850
  • 2014 – 4764

Des Moines County

Early ballots returned:

  • 2018 - 6739
  • 2014 – 6305

Early Voting – Political Party (2018)

Lee County 

Early Ballots Returned:

  • Democrats – 3121
  • Republicans – 1558
  • Lib/NP/Other - 1171

Des Moines County 

Early Ballots Returned:

  • Democrats – 3464
  • Republicans – 2011
  • Lib/NP/Other - 1264
Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.