2020 General Election
Turnout rate (VEP)
0
%
Votes cast from mailed-out ballots
0
%
2016 General Election
Turnout rate (VEP)
0
%
Votes cast from mailed out ballots
0
%
State election policies as of 2022...
Full Vote-at-Home
0/10
Full Vote-at-Home
Voter automatically mailed ballot for every election
No Excuse Required
6/6
No Excuse Required
No excuse to vote from home
Single Sign-Up
0/6
Single Sign-Up
Voter signs up once to receive mail ballot for all future elections
Local Vote-at-Home Option
0/5
Local VAH Option
Local governments have discretion to conduct full vote-at-home elections
Online Mail Ballot Sign-Up
0/2
Online Mail Ballot Sign-Up
Voter can apply for mail ballot online
Ballot Tracking
1/4
Ballot Tracking
Voter can receive ballot status notifications.
In-Person Ballot Return
1/5
In-Person Ballot Return
Voter has multiple options to return mail ballot in person
Signature Verification
4/4
Signature Verification
Voter signature verified before ballot is counted
Ballot Cure Process
2/4
Ballot Cure Process
Voter can correct issues so ballot can be counted
Prepaid Postage
4/4
Prepaid Postage
Postage-paid return envelopes provided
Election Day Postmark Acceptance
0/4
Election Day Postmark Acceptance
Ballots postmarked by Election Day are accepted
In-Person Voting
2/4
In-Person Return
Physical locations for voters to vote and receive assistance
Pre-Processing
0/3
Signature Verification
Ballots are verified and scanned before Election Day
Mail Ballot Applications
0/2
Mail Ballot Applications
Election officials can mail ballot applications to all voters eligible to vote from home
Ballot Return Assistance
1/2
Ballot Return Assistance
Voters may receive assistance to return their mail ballot
Last Updated
Opportunities
Iowa can reduce costs and increase voter convenience by creating a permanent absentee voting list, where voters can sign up to automatically be sent an absentee ballot for each election without having to re-apply. States experience significant savings by cutting down on the requests they need to process; on average, states save $1 for every request they no longer need to process.
Iowa can increase voter confidence by allowing voters to track their ballot much like an Amazon package by improving its current ballot tracking system. Advanced ballot tracking systems can proactively notify voters when their ballot takes a new step in the path from being sent to them to finally being counted (or rejected). If a ballot is rejected, these ballot tracking tools can be used as another method to contact voters if there is a signature mismatch or deficiency on their return envelope.
Reversing the 2021 restriction that bars county election officials from sending out absentee applications will increase local autonomy by devolving decision making down to the local level and increase access to the ballot.
Creating an online portal for voters to request an absentee ballot that feeds directly into the voter registration system is an important step to help verify addresses, collect contact information and to remove administrative steps to process a large amount of requests. We encourage an integrated process that allows new voters to register, current voters to make changes to their address and make requests for ballots in a seamless manner.
Offering in-person methods for voters to return ballots are a cost-effective way to reduce strain on the postal system and decrease reject rates. Lifting the restrictions on drop boxes put into place in 2020 will increase options for voters. Additionally, we highly recommend including provisions to allow for ballots to be received at polling and vote centers, as well as other locations deemed necessary by the clerk.
Getting rid of postmark acceptance for ballots, as Iowa put into law in 2021, will likely double ballot rejection rates, as accepting Election Day postmarks is estimated in most jurisdictions to decrease ballot rejection rates by half. Reinstituting the practice (and making it so ballots postmarked on election day, not just the day before, are counted) will prevent large numbers of voters not having their voices heard.
Processing mail ballots to get them ready for counting before election day helps states get faster election results and gives more time for voters to cure any errors. Iowa’s temporary extension giving three days of preprocessing was a fantastic step, but the change was not made permanent. NVAHI has found that seven days of preprocessing is ideal and suggests that as the standard. Preliminary data also suggests that preprocessing helps avoid any blue or red shifts when there are differences in the partisan lean of mail vs. in person ballots, which could increase voter confidence in the results of elections.
Voters should have sufficient time to correct any issues with their ballot In the event that a voter’s ballot is rejected. Iowa’s current cure deadline of one day before election days leaves many voters behind. We recommend allowing voters to cure any issues for 5 days after the election.
Recent Legislation
As of May 21 2021
Iowa in recent years has had leaders roll back its existing policies and limit voter access. While relatively only technical statewide changes were made in response to the pandemic in 2020, counties made bigger changes. The secretary of state fought against them, suing counties for sending out semi-pre-filled absentee applications to registered voters. Iowa counties had had drop boxes for years prior to the pandemic. In response to the increase in absentee ballot requests, counties began creating more drop boxes, and in response the Secretary of State created new rules to ensure most of these could not accept ballots.
In 2021, leaders continued this unfortunate trajectory, altering existing election policies to limit access to the ballot. SF413 severely cuts back the amount of time Iowans have to vote early in person, request an absentee ballot, and be sent a ballot. Further, it banned election officials from proactively sending out absentee applications (or ballots) altogether and got rid of postmark acceptance (accepting ballots that arrive shortly after election day that were postmarked as having been sent on time). It’s not all bad news, though: the state codified its existing statewide ballot tracking system in SF568.