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Select a state from the menu below to learn more about its election administration. |
Election administration encompasses a state's voting policies, procedures, and enforcement. These include voter identification requirements, early and absentee/mail-in voting provisions, voter list maintenance methods, and more. Each state's voting policies dictate who can vote and under what conditions.
Below, you will find details on the following election administration topics in Iowa:
In Iowa, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central Time. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote.[2][3]
To vote in Iowa, one must be a United States citizen, a resident of Iowa, and at least 18 years old by Election Day. A voter that is 17 years old may participate in a primary election if they will be 18 by the time of the next general election. The deadline to register is 15 days prior to the election. Iowans may register online or by completing a form and returning to their county auditor’s office by mail or in person. Registration is permitted on Election Day with proof of identification.[4][5][6]
Iowa does not practice automatic voter registration.
Iowa has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website.
Iowa allows same-day voter registration.
In order to register and vote on Election Day, voters must go to the correct polling place with proof of their identity and residence (i.e. a valid Iowa driver's license or another acceptable form of photo identification and proof of residency).[7]
To register to vote in Iowa, you must be a resident of the state. State law does not specify a length of time for which you must have been a resident to be eligible.
Iowa does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual applying to register to vote must attest that they are a U.S. citizen under penalty of perjury.
The Iowa secretary of state’s office maintains a page that allows residents to check their voter registration status online.
Iowa permits early voting. Learn more by visiting this website.
Early voting permits citizens to cast ballots in person at a polling place prior to an election. In states that permit no-excuse early voting, a voter does not have to provide an excuse for being unable to vote on Election Day. States that allow voters to cast no-excuse absentee/mail-in ballots in person are counted as no-excuse early voting states.
As of February 2024, 47 states and the District of Columbia permitted no-excuse early voting.
All voters are eligible to vote absentee/by-mail in Iowa. There are no special eligibility requirements for voting absentee. To vote absentee/by-mail, a request application must be received by the county auditor between 70 days before the election and 5 p.m. on the 15th day prior to the election. Voters must include one of the following: Iowa driver's license or non-operator ID number, voter ID/verification number, or the four-digit PIN from their voter ID card. Returned absentee ballots must be received by the time polls close on Election Day in order to be counted.[8]
Absentee/mail-in ballots returned by mail must be received by the time polls close on Election Day in order to be counted.[8]
Absentee/mail-in ballots can also be returned in person to the county auditor’s office. To be counted, the ballot must be returned by the time the polls close on Election Day. Absentee/mail-in ballots cannot be returned to a polling place on Election Day.[8]
On June 8, 2021, Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed SF568 into law, making a series of changes to Iowa's absentee/mail-in voting laws. SF568 established that "no person other than the registered voter, an individual who lives in the same household as the registered voter, an immediate family member of the registered voter ... or a delivery agent acting on behalf of a registered voter who is unable to return the registered voter's own ballot due to reason of blindness or other disability" can return a completed absentee/mail-in ballot (a delivery agent is defined as "an individual registered to vote in this state who has been designated to return a completed absentee/mail-in ballot ... by another registered voter who is unable to return the registered voter's own absentee/mail-in ballot due to reason of blindness or other disability;" an immediate family member is defined as "an individual related to a registered voter within the fourth degree of consanguinity or affinity"). A delivery agent cannot more than two completed absentee/mail-in ballots per election.[9]
Absentee/mail-in ballots in Iowa include a return envelope with an affidavit that must be signed by the voter in order for the ballot to be counted. If election officials determine that the signature on the affidavit does not match the voter’s signature on file, the ballot will not be counted. Iowa law includes a cure provision to remedy certain issues with completed absentee/mail-in ballots.[10]
For completed absentee/mail-in ballots returned by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election (or Friday for primary and special elections), the commissioner reviews the affidavit on the return envelope for completeness and notifies the voter about any issues within twenty-four hours after the ballot was returned. Voter may complete or correct their absentee/mail-in ballot affidavit in person at the office of the commissioner by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election. Alternatively, they can vote a replacement ballot at the office of the commissioner during the early voting period or vote in person on Election Day.[10]
Iowa voters can use this website provided by the Iowa Secretary of State to check the status of their absentee/mail-in ballot.
Iowa requires voters to present identification while voting. Voters who do not have a photo ID can obtain an Iowa voter ID card for free by mail.[11]
Voters can present the following forms of identification:
Voter who do not have one of the IDs listed above may have another voter attest to their identity, or they may provide a combination of other documents to verify their identity and residence. The following additional documents are acceptable proof of identity:[6]
The following documents are acceptable proof of residence:[6]
Voters without the required identification or another voter to attest to their identity will be offered a provisional ballot.[11]
Click here to learn more about the background of Iowa's law.
As of April 2024, 35 states required voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day. Of these states, 24 required voters to present identification containing a photograph, and 11 accepted other forms of identification. The remaining 16 states did not require voters to present identification in order to vote at the polls on Election Day.
Valid forms of identification differ by state. In certain states that require voters to provide identification, there may be exceptions that allow some voters to cast a ballot without providing an ID. To see more about these exceptions, see details by state. Commonly accepted forms of ID include driver's licenses, state-issued identification cards, and military identification cards.
Voters who do not have ID while voting may cast provisional ballots. See below for provisional ballot rules.
Voters in Iowa are given provisional ballots, or ballots requiring additional steps or information before they can be counted, under the following circumstances.[12]
(1) If a voter’s name is not on the list of registered voters, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(2) If a voter’s qualifications to vote are challenged, and the voter cannot prove that he or she is eligible to vote, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(3) If a voter requested an absentee/mail-in ballot but did not surrender them at the polls, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.
(4) If a voter does not have the required identification, the voter has the right to cast a provisional ballot.[13]
Voters who cast a provisional ballot have the right to present evidence indicating that they are eligible to vote to precinct election officials or the county auditor's office by a deadline specified on the provisional ballot envelope.[12]
A provisional ballot is rejected in the following circumstances:[14]
Provisional ballot voters are given a written notice explaining their voting rights and listing the date when the special ballot board meets. Voters may provide evidence to precinct election officials or the county auditor's office by the deadline listed on the provisional ballot envelope to verify their identity and/or residence. If a voter's ballot is not counted, he or she will receive a letter in the mail explaining why it was not counted, according to the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.[12]
Voters can contact their county auditor for questions related to their provisional ballot.
Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool. |
A primary election is an election in which registered voters select a candidate that they believe should be a political party's candidate for elected office to run in the general election. They are also used to choose convention delegates and party leaders. Primaries are state-level and local-level elections that take place prior to a general election. In Iowa, a voter must be affiliated with a party in order to participate in its primary. However, a voter can change his or her political party affiliation on Election Day, creating what is effectively an open primary.[15]
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article.
In Iowa, employees may apply in writing for paid leave which, when combined with non-work time, totals to three consecutive hours to allow for participation in elections:
“ | Any person entitled to vote at an election in this state who does not have two consecutive hours in the period between the time of the opening and the time of the closing of the polls during which the person is not required to be present at work for an employer, is entitled to such time off from work time to vote as will in addition to the person’s nonworking time total two consecutive hours during the time the polls are open. Application by any employee for such absence shall be made individually and in writing prior to the date of the election, and the employer shall designate the period of time to be taken. The employee is not liable to any penalty nor shall any deduction be made from the person’s regular salary or wages on account of such absence.[16][17] | ” |
As of September 2024, 28 states required employers to grant employees time off to vote. Within these 28 states, policies varied as to whether that time off must be paid and how much notice must be given.
On August 5, 2020, Governor Kim Reynolds (R) issued an executive order restoring voting rights for people convicted of a felony upon completion of their sentences, including prison time, parole, and probation. People convicted of felony homicide do not have their voting rights automatically restored. Instead, they must apply individually for restoration of voting rights by pardon.[18]
Voting rights for people convicted of a felony vary from state to state. In the majority of states, people convicted of a felony cannot vote while they are incarcerated but may regain the right to vote upon release from prison or at some point thereafter.[19]
All states have rules under which they maintain voter rolls—or, check and remove certain names from their lists of registered voters. Most states are subject to the parameters set by The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).[20] The NVRA requires states to make efforts to remove deceased individuals and individuals who have become ineligible due to a change of address. It prohibits removing registrants from voter lists within 90 days of a federal election due to change of address unless a registrant has requested to be removed, or from removing people from voter lists solely because they have not voted. The NVRA says that states may remove names from their registration lists under certain other circumstances and that their methods for removing names must be uniform and nondiscriminatory.[21]
Iowa law authorizes election officials to remove the names of voters from the registered voting list if an individual:[22]
Iowa law provides two options by which local election officials may identify voters to be placed on the inactive voter list:
If a confirmation notice is returned as undeliverable, local election officials are to place the voter on the inactive registration list. If a voter remains on the inactive list through two general elections, their registration is to be canceled.
Iowa law states that an inactive voter will be listed as active “when the registered voter requests an absentee ballot, votes at an election, registers again, or reports a change of name, address, telephone number, or political party or organization affiliation.”[23][24]
According to its website, ERIC is a nonprofit corporation that is governed by a board of member-states. These member states submit voter registration and motor vehicle registration information to ERIC. ERIC uses this information, as well as Social Security death records and other sources, to provide member states with reports showing voters who have moved within their state, moved out of their state, died, have duplicate registrations in their state, or are potentially eligible to vote but are not yet registered. ERIC's website describes its funding as follows: "Members fund ERIC. New members pay a one-time membership fee of $25,000, which is reserved for technology upgrades and other unanticipated expenses. Members also pay annual dues. Annual dues cover operating costs and are based, in part, on the citizen voting age population in each state."[25]
By 2022, 33 states and the District of Columbia had joined ERIC. As of May 2024, 24 states and the District of Columbia were members in the ERIC program.[26]
As of July 2024, Iowa was not a participating member in the ERIC program.
On March 17, 2023, the Iowa Secretary of State announced plans to end the state's participation in the program, saying he was "disappointed in the direction the ERIC organization has taken."[27] He also said, "Clean, accurate voter lists are critical to running secure elections and the loss of [other] states' data makes participation in ERIC no longer valuable to Iowa."[27] According to ERIC, the effective date of this withdrawal was June 16, 2023.[28]
Iowa state law requires post-election audits. The state commissioner of elections and the county commissioners determines the number of counties and precincts to be audited and selects them by lot. "An administrative recount may be ordered if the results of the audit require an administrative recount, for example if the commissioner suspects that voting equipment used in the election malfunctioned or that programming errors may have affected the outcome of the election." The audit report must be completed no later than 20 days after the election. The results of the audit itself cannot change the results of an election.[29]
Post-election audits check that election results tallied by a state's voting system match results from paper records, such as paper ballots filled out by voters or the paper records produced by electronic voting machines. Post-election audits are classified into two categories: audits of election results—which include traditional post-election audits as well as risk-limiting audits—and procedural audits.[30][31]
Typically, traditional post-election audits are done by recounting a portion of ballots, either electronically or by hand, and comparing the results to those produced by the state's voting system. In contrast, risk-limiting audits use statistical methods to compare a random sample of votes cast to election results instead of reviewing every ballot. The scope of procedural audits varies by state, but they typically include a systematic review of voting equipment, performance of the voting system, vote totals, duties of election officials and workers, ballot chain of custody, and more.
As of October 2024, 49 states and the District of Columbia had some form of post-election audit by law. Of these, 35 states and the District of Columbia required traditional post-election audits, while six states required risk-limiting post-election audits by law. Eight states used some other form of post-election audit, including procedural post-election audits.[32][33]
Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Iowa.
The table below lists bills related to election administration that have been introduced during (or carried over to) the current legislative session in Iowa. The following information is included for each bill:
Bills are organized alphabetically, first by state and then by bill number. The table displays up to 100 results by default. To view additional results, use the arrows in the upper-right corner of the table. For more information about a particular bill, click the bill number. This will open a separate page with additional information.
State election laws are changing. Keeping track of the latest developments in all 50 states can seem like an impossible job.
Here's the solution: Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker.
Ballotpedia's Election Administration Tracker sets the industry standard for ease of use, flexibility, and raw power. But that's just the beginning of what it can do:
The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.
Click here to view recent issues and subscribe.
In order to get on the ballot in Iowa, a candidate for state or federal office must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, determine whether a candidate or party will appear on an election ballot. These laws are set at the state level. A candidate must prepare to meet ballot access requirements well in advance of primaries, caucuses, and the general election.
There are three basic methods by which an individual may become a candidate for office in a state.
This article outlines the steps that prospective candidates for state-level and congressional office must take in order to run for office in Iowa. For information about filing requirements for presidential candidates, click here. Information about filing requirements for local-level offices is not available in this article (contact state election agencies for information about local candidate filing processes).
Redistricting is the process by which new congressional and state legislative district boundaries are drawn. Each of Iowa's four United States Representatives and 150 state legislators are elected from political divisions called districts. United States Senators are not elected by districts, but by the states at large. District lines are redrawn every 10 years following completion of the United States census. The federal government stipulates that districts must have nearly equal populations and must not discriminate on the basis of race or ethnicity.[34][35][36][37]
Iowa was apportioned four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives after the 2020 census, the same number it received after the 2010 census. Click here for more information about redistricting in Iowa after the 2020 census.
The Legislative Services Agency prepares redistricting plans for approval by the Iowa State Legislature. According to All About Redistricting, the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) consists of "civil servants committed to nonpartisanship and otherwise charged with tasks like legal and fiscal analysis of state legislation and state government oversight." The LSA is assisted by a commission, which consists of the following members:[38]
The members of this commission cannot "hold partisan public office or an office in a political party, and none may be a relative or employee of a federal or state legislator (or the legislature as a whole)."[38]
Working with this commission, the LSA drafts congressional and state legislative district lines. The maps are presented as a single bill to the state legislature, which may approve or reject the bill without altering it (the legislature can provide feedback). If the legislature rejects the plan, the LSA must draft a second proposal. If the legislature rejects the second proposal, the LSA must draft a third, and final, set of maps. If the legislature rejects this plan, it may then approve its own maps. Since the implementation of this process in 1980, the state legislature has never chosen not to approve an LSA proposal. Redistricting plans are also subject to gubernatorial veto. In addition, the legislature may repeal or revise the maps at any time, though it has never done so.[38]
State law establishes the following criteria for both congressional and state legislative districts:[38]
In addition, state House districts are required to be contained within state Senate districts "where possible, and where not in conflict with the criteria above." It is explicit in state law that district lines cannot be drawn "to favor a political party, incumbent, or other person or group."[38]
On June 8, 2021, Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed SF568, making a series of changes to Iowa's absentee/mail-in voting laws. These include, but are not limited to, the following:[9]
The Iowa State Senate voted 30-17 in favor of the original version of SF568 on March 17. The Iowa House of Representatives voted 54-33 to approve an amended version of SF568 on May 19, 2021. The Senate concurred in the House amendments on May 19, 2021, by a vote of 29-17.[9]
On March 8, 2021, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds (R) signed SF413 into law, making the following modifications to the state's election protocols:[39][3]
The bill cleared both chambers of the state legislature on party lines, with all present Republicans voting in favor and all present Democrats voting against it. Jeff Kaufmann, chair of the state Republican Party, supported the legislation, saying, "I applaud Gov. Reynolds and legislative Republicans for showing Iowans that the GOP is listening to their concerns and defending the integrity of our state's election system. While our election systems were already strong, this bill improves upon the work Republicans did in 2017 when they passed Voter ID laws. The 2020 election showed us where shortfalls in our system existed and Iowa Republicans created solutions targeted at fixing those shortfalls." Meanwhile, Ross Wilburn, chair of the state Democratic Party, opposed the bill: "Iowans have always had a proud tradition of participating in the democratic process with accessible and secure elections. Today, Kim Reynolds and Iowa Republicans have made it more difficult for Iowans, especially seniors and those with disabilities, to be part of this process and have their voices heard."[39][3]
On March 9, 2021, The League of United Latin American Citizens of Iowa filed suit against Secretary of State Paul Pate (R) and Attorney General Tom Miller (D) in the Polk County District Court, alleging that the aforementioned provisions of SF413 "independently and collectively impose an undue burden on the fundamental right to vote," in violation of the Iowa Constitution.[40]
Individuals seeking additional information about voting provisions in Iowa can contact the following local, state, and federal agencies.
Iowa County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections
Iowa Secretary of State Office
Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board
U.S. Election Assistance Commission
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