Voting in
Iowa

Upcoming Election Dates & Deadlines

Upcoming Election: Primary Election

Election Day: November 5, 2024

Registration Deadline: November 5, 2024

Vote By Mail: yes

Vote By Mail Deadline: October 21, 2024

Early Voting: October 16 - 4, 2024

How to vote in Iowa

Iowa's election schedule

Iowa's Election Overview

Iowans can register to vote online, by mail, or in person. Voting can be done in person or by absentee ballot. Don’t forget to bring a photo ID if you’re voting in person.

Important Voting Links for Iowa

How to vote in Iowa

Absentee Ballot Process

Absentee voting is available and no excuse is required. County election officials may only send out absentee ballot request forms if requested. You can return your absentee ballot request form through the mail or in person. The last day to vote in-person absentee at your county auditor’s office is Monday, November 7. Mail-in ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day in order to be counted. You can sign up to track your absentee ballot on your Secretary of State website. Contact your local elections office for more information. REQUESTING AND RETURNING YOUR ABSENTEE BALLOT: Applications for absentee ballots can be obtained online in a PDF format, or mailed upon request from the Secretary of State. You can also request a ballot by mailing the application to the county auditor/commissioner of elections in the county where you are registered. You must provide ID information on your absentee ballot request forms. All request forms must include your driver’s license/non-driver’s ID number or your Voter ID Card’s four-digit PIN number. Request forms without these forms of ID will not be accepted. A written application for a mailed absentee ballot must be received by the voter’s County Auditor no later than 5:00 p.m. 15 days before the election. If the request is received so late that it is unlikely the absentee ballot can be returned by mail in time to be considered for counting, the county auditor will enclose a statement to that effect with the absentee ballot. For primary and general elections, the ballots are mailed no later than 20 days before election day. For other elections, ballots are mailed to voters as soon as they are ready. The county auditor will include instructions on how to mark the ballot as well as how to return the ballot. Mail ballots must be received by the county auditor’s office by the time polls close on Election Day (8:00 pm) in order to be counted. Voted absentee ballots cannot be delivered to the polling place on election day. NOTE: You may designate an individual who lives in your household or a member of your immediate family to return your ballot using one of the above methods. Your ballot must be received by 8:00 PM CT on Election Day. Blind and/or disabled voters may designate a delivery agent to return their voted absentee ballot. Voting in Person after Requesting an Absentee Ballot Voters have the option to deliver their absentee ballot to the county auditor’s office before the polls close on election day, surrender their voted absentee ballot at the polls and vote a regular ballot, or vote a provisional ballot at the polls if they cannot surrender their absentee ballot. County Auditors may use Satellite Absentee Voting Stations to provide absentee voting at places other than the Auditors office. You must mark your ballot at the station and leave it with the officials. All satellite stations must be accessible to people with disabilities. Note: Under a new Iowa law, satellite voting sites may only be set up if enough voters petition for one

Early Voting

The early voting period begins 20 days before Election Day. You can vote at your County Auditor’s office during business hours Monday-Friday. Additionally, county auditor offices are open the Saturday before Election Day. For more information, contact your County Auditor. You will need to fill out the Absentee Ballot Request Form used in Iowa for In-Person Absentee “Early” voting. Note: Using a label printed from the check-in tablet is no longer a valid method of completing the form. You are required to show an ID when voting early in person. You can find more information on acceptable forms of ID, here.

Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to vote, you must be:

A citizen of the United States
A resident of Iowa
At least 18 years old on Election Day NOTE: You may vote in a primary election if you are 17 years old as long as you will be 18 years old on or before the corresponding regular election.
Not convicted of a felony (and if you have, you must have had your voting rights restored)
Not currently been judged by a court as incompetent to vote
Not voting in any other place

ID Needed for Voter Registration

To register to vote you must provide a states driver’s license number or your social security number if you have one. There is a box for your to check on the voter registration form if you have neither of those numbers. If you are registering to vote for the first time at the polls on Election Day, or after a recent move, you must prove both who you are and where you live. You can use any of these forms of ID as long as they are current, valid and contain an expiration date:

Iowa drivers license
Iowa non-driver ID card
Out-of-state driver’s license or non-driver ID card
US passport
US military ID
ID card issued by employer
Student ID issued by Iowa high school or college
Tribal ID

If your photo ID does not contain your current address, you may use another document to prove where you live. The following are acceptable proof of residence as long as they contain your name and current address and are current within 45 days:

Residential lease
Utility bill (including a cell phone bill)
Bank statement
Paycheck
Government check or other government document

If you are asked for ID and you don’t have any of the documents listed above, you can have another voter who is registered in your precinct who knows you vouch for your ID and residence. If you don’t have the needed ID and don’t have another voter to vouch for you, you may cast a provisional ballot.

ID Needed for Voting

Voters are required to show a driver’s license, non-driver’s ID, passport, military ID, veterans ID, or Voter ID Card at the polls before they vote. Voters without the necessary ID will be offered a provisional ballot and can provide ID up until the time of the county canvass of votes (Monday after election day for Primary and General Elections). What is a valid form of ID to show at the polls? · Iowa Driver’s License · Iowa Non-Operator’s ID · Military ID · U.S. Passport · Tribal ID · Veteran’s ID · Voter ID Card What about voters who don’t have an ID? Any registered voter who does not have a valid driver’s license or non-operator’s ID issued by the Iowa Department of Transportation will be issued a Voter ID Card for free, automatically, in the mail. This also applies to anyone who registers to vote in the future. Upon receipt of the Voter ID Card, it should be immediately signed. Obtaining the Voter ID Card does not require any further documentation or action by the voter; voters simply need to be registered to vote in the county where they live Voters can call or text 844-338-8743 at any time to reach VoteRiders Voter ID Helpline

Overseas and Military Voting

You are a Military or Overseas voter if you are in uniformed services, living overseas OR a spouse or dependent of a uniformed services voter. To get registered and vote, you can utilize Overseas Vote Foundation. If you have additional questions about elections and voting overseas you can use our state specific elections official directory or contact the Overseas Vote Foundation.

Primary Election Process

Iowa is a “partially open” primary state. This allows voters to vote in another parties primary. You are asked to choose your party when you register to vote, however, you are able to publicly change your party affiliation in order to vote in your selected parties primary election. If you have any questions about your state’s primary election, please contact your local election officials.

Provisional Voting

If your name is not on the list of registered voters, you may register to vote at the polls on Election day and vote a regular ballot. If you do not have the proper forms of ID to register on Election Day, or if someone challenges your right to vote on Election day, you may cast a provisional ballot. The envelope has a place for you to explain why you believe that the ballot should count. Before you leave the polls, you will be given a written notice explaining your voting rights and listing the date on which the special ballot board will meet. If your ballot is not counted, you will receive a letter in the mail explaining why it cannot be counted. Provisional ballots are counted the Thursday after Election Day.

Provisions for Voters with Disabilities

If you need help marking your ballot because of a disability or because you can’t read English, any person you choose may help you, except your employer, your employer’s agent or an officer or agent of your union. If you want help from the precinct workers, one person from each political party will help you. You will need to sign a form indicating that you asked for help. All voting instructions at the polls are printed in large type. If you cannot get into the polling place because of a disability, two precinct workers will bring a ballot to your vehicle. They may also help you mark the ballot, but only if you request assistance. You do not have to tell anyone ahead of time that you will need to vote in your car. However, you may want to call ahead or bring someone with you to tell the precinct workers that you need to vote in your car. Each polling place has a Voter Assist Terminal. Voters here can use features such as touch screens, audio assistance or a sip and puff element to select their candidates. If you have questions or concerns about voting accessibility, please contact your county auditor’s office or your Secretary of State’s office. A voter guide is also available on audio cassette from the Library for the Blind. To request one you can call 515-281-1333 or 1-800-362-2587. Each precinct also provides a braille version of voter instructions and voter rights. For more information, you can utilize the Association of People With Disabilities resource.

Time Off To Vote

If your work schedule doesn’t give you 2 consecutive hours off work while the polls are open, you have the right to take up to three hours off from work to vote. You must make a written request for time off to vote to your employer before election day. Your employer has the right to specify which hours you get to take off. You cannot be penalized and deductions cannot be made from your regular salary or wages on account of this absence

Voting Machines

The voting systems used in Iowa are optical scan and Hand counted paper ballots. Optical Scanning: With this system, you will receive a card or sheet of paper, which you take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. In some places, you can check your card or paper right there at the polling place by feeding it into a card-reading machine to make sure you have voted the way you want to. When you are finished filling out all the cards. You may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show you how to put the cards in the box. Or in some places, you may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that counts the votes. When Election Day is over, the computer counts how many votes were cast for each candidate. Paper Ballots: Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used on Election Day. Paper ballots are mostly used for absentee ballots. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box. At the end of the day, votes are counted by poll workers reading the ballots. You can learn more about voting systems by checking out the Elections Assistance Commission’s (EAC) resource or Verified Voting.