Voting 101: How to vote by mail in Iowa in 2024

From registering to vote to requesting a ballot and every deadline, here’s everything you need to know about how to vote absentee—or vote by mail—in Iowa.

Q. Can anyone vote by mail in Iowa?

A. Yes, anyone can vote by mail in Iowa in 2024. You don’t need any excuse to do so; any registered voter can request an absentee ballot be sent to them. But there are some important things to note about how to do it to make sure your vote counts!

Here are the steps you need to take to vote in the Nov. 5, 2024 election:

Register to vote

If you’re not already, register to vote.

First, check that you’re not already registered to vote from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office here. If you’re not yet, that’s OK—there’s still time! Follow these steps:

• Already have an ID? If you have a valid Iowa driver’s license or nondriver identification, you can register online here.
• No Iowa ID? Print off this form, fill it out, and mail it to your county auditor’s office (find that address here).

Make sure you give yourself plenty of time to register, since you’ll also need to request an absentee ballot (more on that below).

Request an absentee ballot

Fill out this absentee ballot request form here, and mail it back to your county auditor’s office.

You can’t request an absentee ballot too early or too late. Your window in 2024 is Aug. 27-Oct. 21. We recommend sooner, rather than later!

• You can’t request an absentee ballot sooner than 70 days before an election. This year, that’s Aug. 27, 2024.
• By law, you have to request a ballot at least 15 days before the election. That deadline this year is Oct. 21, 2024.

After you request a ballot, you’ll have to wait: By law, county auditors can’t send you an absentee ballot in the mail any sooner than 20 days before an election.

Fill it out and send it back

When your county auditor receives your request, once they’re allowed to send ballots, 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 those instructions exactly.

Once you get your ballot, read all the instructions, fill it out, and send it back right away.

Again, we recommend not waiting. Mail delivery can be unpredictable, and Iowa lawmakers have mandated that ballots must reach the auditor’s office by 8 p.m. on Election Day—postmarks now no longer matter.

You can also drop off your absentee ballot in person at the county auditor’s office, or at a ballot drop box (if available in your county).

No more guessing

Want to make sure your ballot arrived? You can.

Track your absentee ballot using this tool from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office to give you peace of mind that your vote was counted.