IA VOTING THREAD: I recently spoke to @IowaSOS and @jcauditor for an article on the Iowa 2020 Voter Summit. They both shared some information that I thought would be helpful for Iowans considering/planning to vote by mail. (1/13, last few posts in thread are links to resources)

Johnson County Auditor Travis Weipert on sending ballots on time: "If you're worried about your ballot arriving, you can go out on the Secretary of State's website and see when it has arrived in our office...” (2/13)

“… Let's say by Oct. 26 you filled it out, mailed it back in, and we don't have it. You can call the office, we can cancel your ballot and then you can still go to one of our satellite sites, or to your precinct, and vote. So you still have multiple options.” (3/13)

All ballot requests need to be received by the county auditors by October 24. For those that have already requested ballots, October 5 is the first day auditors can send out ballots. (4/13)

Secretary of State Paul Pate mentioned every county in Iowa uses an Intelligent Mail Barcode on absentee ballots. This allows a computer system to know when you sent in your ballot, even if it isn’t postmarked. (5/13)

“The key thing to be successful is to just have a voting plan, and a voting plan starts by getting yourself registered to vote,” Pate said. He added those who have changed residence, such as college students, should update their voter registration. (6/13)

Myth busting from Weipert: "There was always this rumor that we don't count absentee ballots, and unless the race is close. That is absolutely 100% not true. Every vote is counted and tabulated." (7/13)

Weipert added the auditor's office doesn't even know how people voted when they count votes. "Nobody knows what ballot came out of what envelope. So the way you cast your ballot is always secret too, and I just always want to remind people of that," he said. (8/13)

Weipert wants voters to have faith in voting absentee. "It's a heck of a lot easier to vote at home than it is standing in line on election day,” he said. (9/13)

(10/13) Here is a link where Iowans can register to vote: https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/voterregistration.html

(11/13) Here is a form Johnson County residents can use to request an absentee ballot: https://www.johnsoncountyiowa.gov/auditor/voter/absreq.pdf

(12/13) Iowans can track their absentee ballot here:
https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/absenteeballotstatus/absentee/search

(13/13) Here is the article I interviewed them for: https://dailyiowan.com/2020/09/24/university-of-iowa-local-civic-engagement-orgs-to-host-a-virtual-voter-engagement-summit/