Twenty days before the general election, 463,219 Iowans had requested absentee ballots–more than the number of Iowans who cast early votes in the 2004 general election (460,059).
Also as of October 17, Iowa county auditors had received 284,569 completed absentee ballots, more than the number of Iowans who cast early votes in the 2000 general election (276,836).
Iowa Democrats have requested about 70,000 more absentee ballots than Republicans and lead in ballot requests in all four Congressional districts (though only barely in IA-04, where Republicans have a large voter registration advantage).
After the jump I’ve posted early voting numbers from the last three presidential elections in Iowa, along with the latest tables showing absentee ballots requested by voters and returned to county auditors statewide and in the four Congressional districts. I’m updating the absentee ballot totals every weekday here, using data posted on the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.
P.S.- There are three ways to vote early in Iowa. Voting in person at a county auditor’s office or satellite station has a lower error rate than mailing your absentee ballot.
The data in this table come from the statewide statistical reports, which you can download as pdf files on this page of the Iowa Secretary of State’s website.
| Election year | total Democratic vote | Democrats voting early | total Republican vote | Republicans voting early | total no-party vote | no-party voting early |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | 411,920 | 107,505 | 456,664 | 109,827 | 437,947 | 59,504 |
| 2004 | 492,050 | 193,766 | 510,214 | 141,196 | 495,477 | 125,097 |
| 2008 | 568,377 | 250,104 | 491,342 | 156,986 | 467,762 | 138,328 |
| 2010 | 395,312 | 155,421 | 447,445 | 136,243 | 281,546 | 68,499 |
Absentee ballots requested by Iowa voters as of October 17, 2012
| Congressional district | Democrats | Republicans | no-party voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA-01 | 57,423 | 31,715 | 31,380 |
| IA-02 | 59,506 | 32,569 | 29,488 |
| IA-03 | 55,370 | 38,847 | 24,151 |
| IA-04 | 40,364 | 39,239 | 22,682 |
| statewide | 212,663 | 142,370 | 107,701 |
Absentee ballots received by Iowa county auditors as of October 17, 2012
| Congressional district | Democrats | Republicans | no-party voters |
|---|---|---|---|
| IA-01 | 38,230 | 19,406 | 16,903 |
| IA-02 | 40,388 | 20,334 | 16,175 |
| IA-03 | 35,374 | 23,192 | 12,193 |
| IA-04 | 26,639 | 23,317 | 12,143 |
| statewide | 140,631 | 86,249 | 57,414 |