Early voting draws hundreds to auditor’s office

MARENGO — More than 100 voters a day visited the Iowa County Auditor’s Office after early voting began in Iowa Wednesday.

Elections Deputy Sara Fricke said she wasn’t surprised, and the staff was prepared for the traffic.

In 2020, nearly 6,000 absent ballots were cast in Iowa County because of COVID.

“We feel like the trend was going that way,” said Fricke. While daily absentee voting keeps clerks busy in the auditor’s office in the weeks leading up to the election, it gives poll workers some relief on Election Day, Fricke said.

Before election day, Iowa residents may vote at their county auditor’s office during regular office hours, during at least one Saturday set by the auditor and sometimes at satellite locations.

The votes are not cast as on Election Day. They are absentee ballots, like those mailed in, and the same rules apply.

Residents who vote in person before Election Day have to fill out absentee ballot requests at the auditor’s office before they vote. They must show valid IDs.

After they’ve filled out their ballots, they put them in secrecy envelopes and seal them in affidavit envelopes, which they sign.

For voters who need assistance in marking their ballots, an accessible ballot marking device is available at the county auditor's office.

“We’ll start opening them Monday, Nov. 4,” said Fricke. No ballots will be counted until Election Day, Nov. 5.

An absentee board, consisting of three Republicans and three Democrats, opens the ballots, said Fricke. They make sure each ballot is still sealed and hasn’t been tampered with. They make sure each envelope has been signed.

One person opens the envelopes and gives the secrecy envelopes with the ballots inside to another board member. This way the signatures on the envelopes can’t be connected to the ballots, and they remain confidential.

The ballots are scanned into the voting machine designated for them on Election Day.

Residents may cast ballots at the Iowa County Auditor’s Office in the annex across from the Iowa County Courthouse in Marengo between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday, Nov. 2, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

A satellite location will be set up at Mary Welsh Elementary School in Williamsburg from 2-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 23 and 24.