Absentee voting: What voters need to know

   To receive an absentee ballot by mail, a voter must submit an absentee ballot request form to the County Auditor’s office. Requests must be made in writing and the Auditor’s office must receive an original copy of the request. There are multiple ways for a voter to obtain an absentee ballot request form. Voters may visit the Jones County election website or the Secretary of State website and print a form off, or voters may stop in the Auditor’s office to pick up a request form, or the Auditor may mail a voter a request form if the voter calls and requests one be sent to them.

   A County Auditor is prohibited by Iowa Code to send out absentee ballot request forms to voters automatically. However, if a voter calls to request that an absentee ballot request form be sent to them, the County Auditor may do so. There are various organizations such as political parties and candidates who are allowed to send out these request forms to voters automatically. The Auditor’s office has been seeing some of these types of request forms being submitted for the Nov. 8 General Election. Even if a voter receives multiple unsolicited request forms in the mail, they only need to return ONE of them to the Auditor’s office. If a voter does submit more than one absentee ballot request form, the Auditor’s office will still only send that voter ONE ballot.

   When filling out an absentee ballot request form, it is important that the voter fills out all required information including your Iowa Driver’s License or Non-operator ID number or Voter PIN number. A voter will only have a voter PIN number if they do not have an Iowa Driver’s License or Non-Operator ID number. While a voter’s phone number is not a required field, it is very helpful in case the Auditor’s office needs to contact them with questions related to the submitted absentee ballot request form.

   While the Auditor’s office is currently accepting request forms from voters, the first day ballots can be mailed is Oct. 19. Voters who have a request form submitted prior to Oct. 19 should anticipate receiving their ballot in the mail two to three days after Oct. 19. The last day to submit a request form for a ballot to be sent through the mail is Oct. 24 at 5 p.m. Postmark dates do not count. The request form must be in the Auditor’s office by this time.

   If a voter does not have a request form submitted by 5 p.m. on Oct. 24 and still wants to vote absentee, the voter may vote an absentee ballot in the Auditor’s office during business hours. Absentee voting in the Auditor’s office starts on Oct. 19 and ends at 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 7.

   Jones County voters who have any questions about the Nov. 8 General Election can go to www.jonescountyiowaelections.gov or call the Auditor’s office at 319-462-2282 or email auditor@jonescountyiowa.gov.