In all likelihood, at least a quarter of the Iowans who will participate in this year’s midterm election have already returned completed ballots to county auditors. Another 150,000 voters have requested ballots but not yet returned them. To anyone planning to vote by mail: send your ballot back as soon as possible. Iowa law says any ballot mailed by the day before the election (in this case November 3) is valid, but county auditors will not count late-arriving ballots without postmarks. Unfortunately, post offices no longer routinely put postmarks on all mail that passes through. Iowans who are worried about their ballots arriving on time should either take them to a post office this week and ask for a postmark, or hand-deliver completed ballots to the county auditor’s office.
Don’t forget to seal the ballot in the secrecy envelope, seal the secrecy envelope in the affidavit envelope, and sign the affidavit envelope before mailing. If you make a mistake on your absentee ballot, don’t erase or cross anything out. Contact your county auditor about the procedure for getting a replacement ballot.
I’ve enclosed below the latest data on absentee ballots requested and returned statewide and in each of Iowa’s four Congressional districts. All figures come from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. Click here for previous tables going back to September 22.
Absentee ballots requested by Iowa voters as of October 26, 2014
| Congressional district | Democrats | Republicans | no-party voters | Libertarian | Iowa Green | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IA-01 | 50,281 | 38,580 | 27,966 | 136 | 60 | 117,023 |
| IA-02 | 53,647 | 38,355 | 27,025 | 138 | 83 | 119,248 |
| IA-03 | 49,949 | 44,256 | 21,884 | 141 | 57 | 116,287 |
| IA-04 | 35,918 | 47,212 | 20,878 | 89 | 38 | 104,135 |
| statewide | 189,795 | 168,403 | 97,753 | 504 | 238 | 456,693 |
Absentee ballots received by Iowa county auditors as of October 26, 2014
| Congressional district | Democrats | Republicans | no-party voters | Libertarian | Iowa Green | total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| IA-01 | 34,225 | 28,843 | 16,519 | 81 | 28 | 79,696 |
| IA-02 | 35,582 | 28,910 | 15,294 | 74 | 54 | 79,914 |
| IA-03 | 31,346 | 31,193 | 11,723 | 65 | 32 | 74,359 |
| IA-04 | 24,998 | 34,913 | 12,419 | 50 | 20 | 72,400 |
| statewide | 126,151 | 123,859 | 55,955 | 270 | 134 | 306,369 |
10 Comments
Keep expanding our lead, "indies" are the Key.
The Final week is here and know what fellow progressives? Bruce is going to win. Sadly my guy Jim Mowrer is not looking as good as I hoped but he is a smart person who will serve the public well in 2016. Just to set my argument I am using 1,250,000 as my vote total which is 60% and change not the 1,133,500 figure used by most pundits.
The case for Braley and Appel is pretty clear, how are the “indies” going to break. In fact the “indies” hold the key to this election and many of those “indies” are people under 25 and living in urban areas. They break for the Democrats. Woman, people of color, the LGBT community, and all lawyers after the way the GOP has been ragging them. Give credit where credit is due, the GOP’s early voting push surprised me with the results. It all comes down to GOTV and the GOP has none, we are phone banking now, we are running people to vote at the auditors office, we are doing our work, where is the GOP? Maybe 2016 because they have not learned a lesson from 2012.
Now Jim Mowrer and 2016 he will only get better and the Democrats will find a place for him on the ballot. .
okoboji-mike Mon 27 Oct 9:57 AM
the outstanding ballots
need to come back. 60,000 Democratic ballots requested but not returned = about 5 percent of the total expected vote in this midterm.
desmoinesdem Mon 27 Oct 11:07 AM
Polk
The auditor here says the rate of return of absentee ballots is by far the worst he’s ever seen.
rockm Mon 27 Oct 1:45 PM
presumably a result
of the strategy to target unreliable voters during the summer and early fall.
desmoinesdem Mon 27 Oct 2:54 PM
Mowrer
Has told people privately he will not seek elected office again. Whether he sticks to that remains 2 b seen.
rockm Mon 27 Oct 1:42 PM
sometimes people change their minds
Terry Branstad said in May 2009 he would not run for governor again. Reconsidered by August, announced in September.
desmoinesdem Mon 27 Oct 2:55 PM
Mowrer is a good man.
I have met him and I am impressed; sorry to hear he is finished with politics.
okoboji-mike Mon 27 Oct 10:17 PM
Who could blame him.
Running for office is a tough business. On the other hand, sometimes it takes two tries. Harkin lost his first congressional race in 1972. Two years later he tried again and won against the same opponent. Then he never looked back.
cocinero Mon 27 Oct 8:43 PM
County by County Results
Is there a place where i can see where these results break down by county?
livelifelarge Mon 27 Oct 3:14 PM
I think you need to call
each county auditor’s office individually to get that info.
desmoinesdem Mon 27 Oct 4:27 PM