Purpose of June primary election in Iowa is for voters of each party to nominate candidates to represent their party for the various offices on the ballot at the November general election. In primary election, voters must declare an affiliation with either political party (Democrat or Republican) in order to receive a ballot. Party affiliation may be declared at the polls or on the absentee ballot applications.
Absentee voting is strongly recommended due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa Secretary of State has sent out absentee ballot request forms to all registered voters in the State of Iowa the week of April 27th. If you do not receive yours, please contact the Auditor’s office and one will be mailed to you. Once we receive your absentee ballot request form, we will send you a ballot.
If you want to vote in person at the courthouse prior to election day, that will be available starting on May 4. If the Courthouse is still closed, I would like to have you call Auditor 641-342-3315 and we will let you in the east door. There will also be curbside voting available.
If want to vote at polls on election day June 2, 2020, our normal seven polling locations will be combined into one. Polling location will be at the Clarke County Fairgrounds Event Center, in the large room. This will allow us to have fewer election workers and the space to be spread out. We will provide hand sanitizer, gloves and masks to our election officials for their use. We plan on having taped markings on the floor to help remind people to spread out. I am still in the process of planning for election day, but be assured all necessary precautions will be taken.
Also, last August special election held and the way Clarke County Supervisors are elected was changed. Now the supervisors are still required to live in a specific district but are voted on countywide. Therefore, this year, for the first time, everyone voting in Clarke County has the opportunity to vote for all three supervisor seats.