Sioux City resident and retired Navy Commander Jim Jung believes voting is his civic duty.
“I use the basic premise that people have died, men and women have died for our right to vote. So, that's the reason I go in personally to vote rather than absentee,” Jung said.
Jung voted a day before Election Day at the Woodbury County Courthouse.
“I'm always interested in the city, the council election, and then the school board election,” he said.
Woodbury County Auditor and Election Commissioner Pat Gill says he worries about those who can’t vote in person due to age or disability.
“Those are the folks that we hear the most from," he said. "By the time we notify them where to vote and how to get a request form, it’s too late for them, and they’re very disappointed. We try to get those folks educated and better to be prepared to get their absentee request forms so that they can participate in the election.”
In 2021, Iowa shortened the window for early voting to 20 days from 29. It also required registered voters to request absentee ballots at least 15 days before an election.
“It's hurting other Republicans just as much as it hurts the Democrats by restricting the use of early voting.”Pat Gill, Woodbury County auditor and election commissioner
“It's hurting other Republicans just as much as it hurts the Democrats by restricting the use of early voting,” he said.
Gill estimates the changes hurt up to 3,000 Woodbury County voters who have a hard getting around. Even though it's a small percentage, Gill says it's a big number when turnout for the city/school election is projected to be 15-20%.
For years, Gill sent voters pre-filled absentee request forms, but Iowa started banning them during the presidential election of 2020. Woodbury and two other counties, Linn, and Johnson, were sued by former President Donald Trump’s re-election campaign and Republican party groups. A judge sided with the Trump campaign, requiring Iowans to submit another request for an absentee ballot.
“People loved it here in Woodbury County when I would mail absentee ballot request forms," Gill said. "And it really increased the participation rate in every election that we did it."
Polls statewide are open from 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. on Tuesday. All absentee ballots must arrive at the auditor's office by the time polls close in order to be counted.
