Ahead of the city/school board election in November, the Greene County Auditor’s office is making the public aware of some early voting changes.

The Iowa Legislature made law changes to elections this past legislative session. Those changes include the time period of when absentee ballots can be mailed to eligible voters. Requests for absentee ballots can be submitted to the auditor’s office now and the first day that ballots can be mailed is October 13th, with the final day being October 18th. Another option is voting early in person in the lobby of the Greene County Courthouse from October 13th through 5pm on November 1st. 

Another change by the legislature is no longer allowing absentee ballots to be counted if received after Election Day. This means all absentee ballots must be received by the auditor’s office by 8pm on November 2nd. The only exceptions include individuals with the Safe at Home program received by the Secretary of State in time to be transmitted to the County Auditor by noon on Monday following the election and ballots from uniformed and overseas citizens (UOCAVA) received by noon on the Monday following the election.

 The legislature also changed who is allowed to return an absentee ballot. Other than the voter themselves, others who are allowed to drop-off an absentee ballot include individuals living in the voter’s household, an immediate family members, special precinct election officials, or a delivery agent for someone who can’t return a ballot due to blindness or another disability. 

Voter pre-registrations have also changed. Those who are eligible to vote, but haven’t registered to vote in Greene County, may do so by mail, in person at the auditor’s office or online. The deadline to register to vote for the upcoming city/school board election is October 18th. 

Voter Pre-registration:

By mail: https://www.greenecounty.iowa.gov/pview.aspx?id=56227&catid=659

Online: https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/voterregistration.html