Democrats and older Iowans would have to adjust their early voting habits the most if a bill that needs absentee ballots to be in county auditors’ hands by the time polls close on Election Day becomes law. Republicans would see an effect too, legislators say, but they vote in particular person on Election Day with much more frequency than Democrats or those registered for no celebration, and also Iowans 65 and older, an IowaWatch analysis of voting data in common elections more than the final 20 years shows. Regardless of who feels the impact, Republican and Democratic state legislators trying to amend Iowa’s absentee voter registration law agree that modifications are crucial since ballots are not being counted when they possibly really should be. The explanation: U.S. post offices are not putting time-stamped postmarks on lots of of the absentee ballots. “So we are throwing ballots out, and we don’t want to do that,” state Sen. Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, stated.
Iowa law says absentee ballots could arrive after an election day if they bear a postmark of up to the day just before the scheduled vote. But a bill that passed the Iowa Residence 56-41 on March 11 would demand that absentee ballots arrive at county auditors’ offices by the time polls close on the election day in order to be counted. An exception would be provided to military personnel and their families and other folks functioning outside the nation who apply for ballots and return them by mail in time to be counted.
A Senate bill says ballots clearly postmarked by the day prior to an election and received by the elections office by noon the following Monday should be counted, as well as any ballot received by 5 p.m. the day soon after the election. A choice on irrespective of whether to vote on the Senate bill or to take up the House bill was pending.
Full Article: Absentee ballot change would affect Democrats’ practices.