Early voting in Iowa: Where, when and how to vote

A step-by-step guide to early voting in Iowa.

If you want to vote, but you don’t have the time or ability to go to your polling location for whatever reason, an easy solution is to vote early. In Iowa, the process involves a few steps, but let’s start with a quick explanation.

Am I eligible to vote early?

Anyone can vote early by requesting an absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots are just like the ballots you fill out in voting booths at your polling location, but you can fill it out from the comfort of your own home. This method of voting is more accessible for people who can’t get to their polling location on Election Day for whatever reason (college students, overseas service members, people with disabilities, the elderly, etc.).

In fact, in Iowa, you don’t have to provide a reason for requesting an absentee ballot, or prove that you need it. If you request it, it will come.

How to vote early

To vote early, the first step is to download an absentee ballot request form from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.

Next, you fill that out and mail it to your county auditor (click here to check who that is).

You can only request an absentee ballot between Aug. 27 and Oct. 21.

That’s because Iowa law says your request has to make it to the auditor 15 days before the election (Oct. 21 this year), so it’s a good idea to download and send the request as early as possible. However, you also can’t request an absentee ballot before Aug. 27 this year (70 days before the election generally).

When the auditor receives the request, they’ll send out the actual ballot along with instructions for how to fill it out and what to do when you’re done. To have your vote counted, you have to follow these instructions exactly.

You can also vote early in-person. That is, in person at your auditor’s office. In this case, you go to your auditor’s office, receive a ballot, but you don’t take it home. Instead, you vote there as if you had come in on Election Day.

The option is open 20 days before the election (Oct. 16).

How to make sure your vote counted

After you get your absentee ballot and fill it out, you can mail it back to the auditor or deliver it to your auditor’s office in person. Just note that if you plan to drop it off in person, you have to do it before Election Day (Nov. 5). If you forget, you can vote on Election Day, but you’ll have to trade in your absentee ballot to do so.

If you’re mailing your ballot back, make sure you do it as soon as possible: According to Iowa law, ballots must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day in order to count.

After you’ve sent it, you can track your ballot’s progress on the secretary of state’s website here.