What to expect when voting in Iowa's primary election on Tuesday

Extra pens, masks and other unusual polling place equipment will mark Iowa's Primary Day voting on Tuesday.

The coronavirus pandemic has sharply increased early voting by mail, led to consolidated polling places and caused officials to take extra steps to ensure the health and safety of voters and staff.

Here's what voters should expect:

Your polling place probably won't be where it usually is

Election officials consolidated polling places this year, due to high absentee turnout and to ensure there are enough poll workers, since some regular poll workers are older and fall into high risk categories for coronavirus.

Polk County, the most populous in the state, has gone from 135 polling places to just 28. Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said he looked to historical turnout when deciding which sites to consolidate, and then tried to pick locations that would make sense to voters. The county has a website, polkelectionia.gov, that gives voters turn-by-turn directions to their polling places.

The Secretary of State's office also has a website, voterready.iowa.gov, to allow people to track their absentee ballots and find their polling place.

Officials don't anticipate long lines at the polls

With nearly 500,000 Iowans requesting an absentee ballot so they can vote by mail, election officials are confident Iowa will be able to avoid long lines at the polls, even with reduced polling places.

"We’re comfortable that with the successful response we’ve seen from the absentee ballot effort that we have enough polling sites and we have enough poll workers to be able to assure Iowa voters that it’s safe to go vote if you choose to do so in person June 2nd," Secretary of State Paul Pate said.

Expect social distancing, extra cleaning and personal protective equipment

Many counties will have social distancing markers at polling places to keep people 6 feet apart; make masks available to voters; require masks for staff; and mandate that surfaces be wiped down. County officials have even worked to buy enough pens so every voter can take theirs with them to avoid reuse.

The Secretary of State's office sent personal protective equipment such as masks, face shields, gloves and hand sanitizer to officials in all 99 counties.

Many people have already voted by mail

More than 330,000 Iowans have already voted early by mail in the primary as of Friday, and nearly 500,000 have requested absentee ballots.

Early voting by mail has spiked after Pate, a Republican, decided to mail absentee ballot request forms to every registered voter in the state to encourage people to vote safely.

As of Friday, Iowans have returned 69% of the total requested absentee ballots. If Iowans return their ballots at a similar rate as the last three statewide primaries — 91% in 2018, 86% in 2016 and 91% in 2014 — the state will fall just shy of its record primary turnout of 449,490, set in 1994, even if no one votes on Election Day. 

Who's on the ballot?

Democrats will vote in a contested U.S. Senate primary to select a candidate to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in November. All four of Iowa's U.S. House seats also feature contested primaries on either the Democratic or Republican sides, including competitive races in the 2nd District, where Republicans hope to take back a seat held by retiring U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack and the 4th District, where U.S. Rep. Steve King faces four Republican challengers.

Candidates for the Iowa House and Senate will also be on the ballot as both parties look to select their candidates to compete in November. Many counties will also feature races for county offices like supervisor and sheriff.

See the full list of candidates here. 

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

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