Early voting in the Tuesday, June 7 primary ends at 5 p.m. on Monday, but this weekend the auditors’ offices in both Johnson County and Linn County will be open for people wanting to cast an early ballot.
In Johnson County, early voters can exercise their franchise at either the auditor’s office in the county’s administration building (913 S Dubuque St, Iowa City), or choose the drive-through option across the street at the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building parking ramp (855 S Dubuque St). Both will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday.
There will also be four satellite voting sites available for Johnson County voters this weekend.
Saturday
• Coralville Public Library (1401 5th St), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• North Liberty Community Library (520 W Cherry St), 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday
• Dream City (611 Southgate Ave, Iowa City), 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
• Iowa City Public Library (123 S Linn St), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Linn County does not have the drive-through voting option and will not have satellite voting locations for the primary. Its auditor’s office, located in the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center in Cedar Rapids (935 Second St SW) will be open on Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Voter ID requirements for early voting are the same as they are for voting on Election Day. Voters will need to show a valid Iowa driver’s license or one of the following forms of ID.
• Iowa Non-Operator ID
• Iowa Voter Identification Card
• U.S. Military ID or Veteran ID
• U.S. Passport
• Tribal ID Card/Document
If a voter doesn’t have one of the acceptable forms of ID, another registered voter who does can attest to the ID-less voter’s identity. The voter without ID can then cast a provisional ballot.
Unlike a general election, or primaries for city-level offices or school boards, the June 7 election is a partisan primary. Only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote, and they will receive ballots listing just the candidates from their party. People who are registered, or who are registered No Party, can change to Democrat or Republican if they vote in person on Election Day because of same-day registration, but it’s too late to re-register in order to vote early.
It’s probably also too late for anyone who received an absentee ballot by mail to rely on it being counted if they mail it back to the auditor’s office. Prior to last year, a mailed-in ballot just need to be postmarked by Election Day and received in the auditor’s office by the Monday following the election to be considered valid. But in 2021, Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a set of new voting restrictions into law to require mailed ballots be received in the auditor’s office before the polls close on Election Day to be valid.
There are two options besides trusting the mail for those with absentee ballots at home. First, you can still vote in person, but you must bring your absentee ballot with you and give it to an election worker before voting. Alternatively, you can put the completed absentee ballot in the auditor’s office dropbox.
Johnson County voters can find their dropbox on the south side of the Johnson County Administration Building, and in Linn County, the dropbox is located outside the Jean Oxley Linn County Public Service Center.
An absentee ballot must be in the dropbox or received in the auditor’s office by the end of voting on Election Day in order to be counted.
Early voting continues on Monday, with both auditors’ offices open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
