Iowans can start casting their absentee ballots today for the city and school election on November 2nd.

The Iowa Legislature shortened the period to vote absentee either in person or with a mailed ballot from 29 to 20 days before Election Day. The deadline to request a mailed absentee ballot has been moved up earlier from 11 to now 15 days before the election. Requests must be received by the Washington County Auditor’s Office no later than 5 p.m. Monday, October 18th, so County Auditor Dan Widmer urges those who prefer that voting method to get their request sent as soon as possible.

Absentee voting can be done in person at the auditor’s office at the Washington County Courthouse during business hours of 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. on October 18th and Friday, October 29th. Widmer notes that they received more absentee ballots than ever in the 2020 election, though the total number of ballots cast was virtually unchanged, “I’m really interested to see if that trend continues. I’ve talked to people that voted absentee for the first time last November in order to avoid possible COVID effects and they’ve said to me afterwards, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize that it was quite that easy to vote absentee. I found it very convenient, very handy.’”

Widmer reminds that voter identification is required to vote at the auditor’s office, and the last day to cast a ballot there is Monday, November 1st. Other new voting laws include that Election Day polls will close an hour earlier at 8 p.m., and any absentee ballots received after polls close will not be counted, whereas they used to be counted if they were postmarked by Election Day and were accepted by noon the Monday following the election. You can hear more about election changes in a two-part Halcyon House Washington Page with Widmer at kciiradio.com.