Early voting for the Nov. 3 general election starts tomorrow in Marshall County, and throughout Iowa.
Marshall County Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson said people can go to the Marshall County Election Center to cast early ballots. Also tomorrow, the auditor’s office will mail all of the absentee ballot requests.
“We didn’t get a huge number of absentee requests,” she said. “I think it’s close to 1,000. People can still request absentee ballots until 5 p.m. on Oct. 19. After that, they need to go to the election center.”
Before the Nov. 3 midterm elections, President Donald Trump sought to place restrictions on mail-in voting by having the United States Postal Service (USPS) not deliver ballots which were not reviewed beforehand or did not meet design standards. On Sept. 14, the United States Supreme Court blocked the USPS from moving forward with the restrictions, which Trump issued in an executive order in March.
Benson said there have been no changes to the mail-in system in place for Marshall County voters.
“We have a great working relationship with the post office,” she said. “If they have ballots by 8 p.m. on election day, we talk to them and see if they can be picked up so they can be counted.”
While Benson said it is difficult to estimate how many residents will vote in the election, she has seen a lot of activity surrounding it.
“There are a lot of positions on the ballot, like the governor,” she said. “But there is no way of gauging how many people will vote. I have heard some people are angry, so they will not vote. There’s just no way to predict what the voters are going to do. I only hope a lot of people vote.”
Early voting information
Marshall County residents who want to cast their ballots before Nov. 3 can do so by requesting an absentee ballot. They need to fill out the Official Iowa Absentee Ballot Request Form which is at the Marshall County Auditor’s office in the courthouse or by going to the auditor’s website, https://elections.marshallcountyia.gov/.
The ballots can be mailed back to the auditor’s office or placed in the Marshall County Election Center drop box. Benson said the secure drop box is available at all hours.
If mail-in ballots are not preferable, early voters can go to the Marshall County Election Center, 107 S 1st Ave., Marshalltown to cast their ballots.
Marshall County ballots
Marshall County residents can see samples of the Nov. 3 general election voting ballots on the Marshall County Auditor/Recorder website. Not all of the samples are identical. For example, outside of Marshalltown in the northern and western parts of the county, residents can choose between incumbent Republican Brett Barker and Democratic challenger Teresa Perin for the Iowa Representative District 51 seat. Within Marshalltown and southeastern Marshall County, the Iowa House of Representatives race is between incumbent Republican David Blom and challenger Mike Tupper in District 52.
On the ballots, the Democratic candidates are listed first, followed by the Republican candidates. Voters will make their decisions on the following large positions:
Democrat Josh Turek, Republican Ashley Hinson or Libertarian Thomas Laehn for the United States Senator seat being vacated by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa);
Dave Dawson or Chris McGowan for United States Representative District 4 seat held by Rep. Randy Feenstra (R-Iowa);
Rob Sand or Zach Lahn for governor, currently held by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. Dave Muhlbauer is on Sand’s ticket for the lieutenant governor position, and Derek Wulf is on Lahn’s;
Ryan Peterman or incumbent Paul Pate for secretary of state;
Taylor Wettach or Chris Cournoyer for state auditor, currently held by Sand;
John Norwood or incumbent Roby Smith for state treasurer;
Chris Jones or incumbent Mike Naig for state secretary of agriculture;
Nate Willems or incumbent Brenna Bird for attorney general;
Mike Tupper or incumbent David Blom for Iowa Representative District 52 seat;
DeMorris Dean or incumbent Republicans Jarret Heil or Carol Hibbs for Marshall County Board of Supervisors. Voters can choose two candidates.
Incumbent Republican Christian Goodman or Kyle Hall for the seat to fill a vacancy on the Marshall County Board of Supervisors. Goodman was appointed to replace his late father, Kevin, earlier this year, and the term runs until the end of 2028.
Running unopposed on the ballots are Republican Deann Tomlinson for Marshall County Treasurer and Republican Jordan Gaffney for county attorney.
Voters will also choose two soil and water conservation district commissioners, five county agricultural extension council members and 10 judges.
There is only one ballot measure in this election, asking voters to decide if Amendment 1 should be adopted into the Iowa Constitution. The amendment would require an increase in income taxes and also on new taxes on any income to be approved by a two-third approval vote of each legislative house.
Contact Lana Bradstream at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.