Thousands of absentee ballots have been requested from the Scott County Election Commission ahead of the June 2nd primary.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot in the June 2nd Iowa primary election is Friday at 5:00 p.m.
With the COVID-19 pandemic, election auditors are facing new challenges. "One of my favorite quotes was by a man named Doug Lewis. He ran the election center. He said 'you don't make any changes six months prior to an election. No policies, no procedures.' And this election that all went out the window," Roxanna Moritz, Scott County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections tells KWQC.
Moritz says so far the Scott County election office has received 20,000 absentee ballot requests. "The highest since I've been in office of people that have voted in a primary election has been 12,500. The challenge this time was it was immediate. Because of COVID-19, the Secretary of State mailed out the absentee request form and I think our first mail we got 3,000 at once and we have to turn those around very quickly."
On primary election day, Moritz says the county will have 23 polling locations instead of 63 in an effort to help combat the spread of COVID-19 by reducing the amount of poll workers and facilities being used. "We tried to make sure in the rural areas all of those stayed the same. And then basically in Davenport we put one in each ward, so they would be close to home. Two in Bettendorf."
The locations will also be taking precautions including using masks, hand sanitizer, spacing between voters, and single use pencils for voters. "Instead of doing I voted stickers this year, we did I voted pencils. So when you come in and vote, take that pencil with you. Don't leave it behind," Moritz said.
Those voting in person on June 2nd must remember to bring a photo identification. If your drivers license expired since January and you are unable to get it renewed because of COVID-19, it is still an acceptable form of identification.