Iowans Can Apply for Absentee Ballots Starting This Morning

(Radio Iowa) Iowans who want to vote by mail in the general election this fall can submit their applications for an absentee ballot starting today (Tuesday). The applications are available at voterready.iowa.gov or at your county auditor’s office. Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald says unlike in 2020, officials won’t be sending the application forms to voters in the mail.

“Voters are going to have to go through and fill all this out on their own and they’re going to have to put their driver’s license number down,” Fitzgerald says. “You can also use your voter PIN, but many times people don’t know their voter PIN and the one thing as we get deeper in the process is, don’t guess on your voter PIN.” County auditors can begin mailing ballots to those who request them on October 19th, which is still several weeks away, but Fitzgerald is encouraging voters to submit their requests early.

“The earlier the better, because if there’s a problem, you can cure it, as opposed to getting it the day before the deadline,” he says. “It makes it really hard to cure any deficiency you might have.” Fitzgerald says Iowans who want to vote this year should double-check their voter registration and make a plan to vote.

(Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)