Early voting for the June 7 primary election began on Wednesday, as county auditors started mailing out absentee ballots requested by voters, and opened their offices for in-person early voting. According to Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald, on Wednesday morning his office mailed out over 4,500 absentee ballots requested by voters .
It’s not too late to request an absentee ballot by mail, but there’s not much time remaining. Completed absentee ballot request forms must be received in the Polk County Election Office by 5 p.m. on Monday. The request form is available online, but must printed out and then returned to the election office after it is completed.
Absentee ballots can be mailed or brought in person to the election office in Des Moines (120 2nd Ave, Suite A), and can also be deposited in the ballot dropbox outside the office. However it is returned, in order to be counted an absentee ballot must be received in the collections office by the time polls close on Election Day, Tuesday, June 7.
Anyone wanting to vote early in person will be able to do so at the election office during its normal office hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The office will also be open for early voters on Saturday, June 4, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Like other Polk County government offices, the election office will be closed on Monday, May 30, in observance of Memorial Day.
Polk County will have three satellite locations open for early voting on the Saturday before Election Day. From 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., registered voters will be able to cast an early ballot at three public libraries.
• Altoona Public Library (700 8th St SW)
• Urbandale Public Library (3520 86th St)
• West Des Moines Public Library (4000 Mills Civic Pkwy)
Partisan primary elections in Iowa are closed elections — only voters registered as Democrats or Republicans can vote because only candidates from those parties will be on the ballot. To be included in a partisan primary, a candidate needs to be from what the state classifies as a major political party, which Iowa law defines as a party whose most recent presidential or gubernatorial candidate received at least 2 percent of the vote in the general election.
Our first voter this morning- Ankeny's John Olsen!
— Jamie Fitzgerald (@Polkauditorfitz) May 18, 2022
John has consistently been the first voter in our office for almost every election.
He works hard to promote voting and has one of the most extensive collections of voting memorabilia in the nation. pic.twitter.com/a2qVqD9BIe
Anyone who is unregistered or registered No Party, as well as Democrats and Republicans who want to change their party affiliation, must be registered or update their registration by Monday, May 23 at 5 p.m. People will also be able to register to vote on Election Day.
Whether voting early in person or voting on Election Day, anyone wanting to cast a ballot will have to show an 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.
Polk County residents with questions about voting can call the election office for assistance at 515-286-3247.
