Iowa counties cut back voting sites as absentee ballot requests surge

As Iowa counties dramatically scale back the number of polling sites to be used in the upcoming primary election, an Iowa judge has ordered one western Iowa county to modify its plans to severely restrict in-person voting.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, counties throughout the state are scaling back the number of polling sites where voters can cast their ballot in the June 2 primary election. Scott County, for example, has reduced the number of polling sites from 63 to 23. Linn County has reduced the number of sites from 78 to 19.

While fewer voting sites would normally lead to longer lines to vote, increasing the risk of infection, prospective voters are responding to the state’s Vote Safe Iowa initiative that encourages absentee balloting. In Linn County, for example, the auditor has received 30,000 requests for absentee ballots for the upcoming primary. In a normal year, the office would have fielded 2,000 such requests, said Deputy Commissioner of Elections Rebecca Stonawski.

As of Tuesday, a total of 178,875 absentee ballots had been requested statewide for the primary.

Read more: https://iowacapitaldispatch.com/2020/05/05/iowa-counties-cut-back-voting-sites-as-absentee-ballot-requests-surge/