Absentee Voting

• Absentee Voting Information
• Voting Absentee by Mail
• Iowans Living in the United States
• Absentee Voting and Health Care Facilities
• Voting Absentee in Person
• Satellite Absentee Voting

For information on absentee voting by members of the military and Iowans living outside the United States, visit UOCAVA Voters >>>.

• Absentee Ballot Request Form  
• Absentee Ballot Request Form with Receipt  

Completed absentee ballot requests forms should be returned to the county auditor in the county where the voter is registered.

In the state of Iowa, registered voters may request an absentee ballot for three reasons (listed below). However, the law does not require the voter to state the reason on the request form. Any registered voter may vote by absentee ballot at any election:

• When, during the time the polls are open on Election Day, the voter expects to be absent from the precinct in which he/she is a registered voter.



• When, through illness or physical disability, the voter expects to be prevented from going to the polls and voting on Election Day.



• When the voter expects to be unable to go to the polls and vote on Election Day.

Absentee ballots may be sent to voters through the U.S. Postal Service. Voters may also vote by absentee ballot in person at the county auditor's office or at satellite absentee voting locations. Request forms for absentee ballots may be obtained online or mailed upon request from the Secretary of State's office.

Completed forms should be returned to the county auditor in the county where the voter is registered by 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election.

Ballots are mailed to voters 40 days before Primary and General elections. For other elections, ballots are mailed to voters as soon as they are ready. Voters may vote by absentee ballot in person beginning 40 days before Primary and General elections.

Note: The state of Iowa does not require absentee ballot requests to be witnessed or notarized.

If you would like a hard copy of any of the absentee ballot request forms, please call the Secretary of State’s Office at 515-281-0145 or 1-888-SOS-VOTE (1-888-767-8683).

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Iowans Living in the United States

Completed absentee ballot request forms should be mailed to the county auditor in the county where the voter is registered to vote. In lieu of the official form, absentee ballot requests must be on paper no smaller than 3x5 inches and include the following information:

• The name of the voter,



• The voter's address,



• The address to which the ballot should be sent (if different from the voter's address),



• The voter's date of birth,



• The date and/or name of the election for which the voter is requesting a ballot, and



• The voter's signature.

No one can request a ballot for another person. Proxy request forms are available for use by certain family members to request absentee ballots for relatives who qualify for armed forces and overseas ballots. Proxy requests can be used in the General Election ONLY. For more information about proxy requests, contact your county auditor.

Voters requesting absentee ballots by mail may submit a request at anytime before an election but must do so by 5 p.m. the Friday before the election. Requests arriving by mail after 5 p.m. on the Friday before the election cannot be honored.

If the application is received so late that is unlikely the absentee ballot can be returned by mail in time to be considered for counting on Election Day, the county auditor will enclose a statement to that effect with the absentee ballot.

Absentee ballots CANNOT be delivered to polling places on Election Day. On Election Day, voters who have been issued an absentee ballot but have not yet returned their absentee ballot to their county auditor have the following options:

• The voter may deliver the ballot to the county auditor's office before the polls close on Election Day.



• The voter can "surrender" the absentee ballot at the polling place for the precinct in which the voter is registered to vote. The voter will then be allowed to vote a regular ballot at the polling place.



• If a voter cannot "surrender" the absentee ballot at the polling place, the voter will be allowed to vote a provisional ballot.

If returned by mail, the ballot must be clearly postmarked by the day before the election by an officially authorized postal service and received by the county auditor's office no later than noon on the Monday following the election. For school elections and some city and special elections there may be an earlier deadline. Read the instructions sent with the ballot.

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Absentee Voting and Health Care Facilities

Voters who live in health care facilities or who are hospitalized may request absentee ballots. Bi-partisan teams deliver absentee ballots to voters who are patients in hospitals and health care facilities, as required by Iowa law. The team must make deliveries during the 14 days immediately before the election and on Election Day. The county auditor may also choose to send a bi-partisan team to deliver ballots during the 10 days immediately after the ballots are printed. The team members are required by law to travel together and stay together while they deliver ballots and while the voters mark ballots. They must return the ballots to the county auditor's office before the polls close on Election Day.

Any qualified elector who becomes a patient or resident of a hospital or health care facility within three days prior to the date of an election may request an absentee ballot during that period or on Election Day. During this time period, voters may call their county auditor and request a ballot. County auditors will make arrangements to get ballots to voters in hospitals and health care facilities.

If a voter is admitted to a health care facility or hospital three days or less before an election (Saturday, Sunday, or Monday), the voter has the following options:

• Health care facility in the voter's home county


The request for a ballot may be given to an election official delivering ballots to other voters. The county auditor will take phone requests until four hours before the polls close. A request for a ballot may be faxed if the original request is also mailed in to the county auditor. It must be postmarked before Election Day. Ballots cannot be sent by fax.


• Health care facility outside the voter's home county


The voter may choose someone to pick up and deliver the absentee ballot. This is the only situation in which someone other than election officials or the U.S. Postal Service may deliver an absentee ballot to a voter. Anyone the voter chooses, except a candidate on the ballot, may deliver the ballot back to the county auditor. Phone or fax requests may be made to your county auditor no later than four hours before the polls close on Election Day.

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Members of the Military and Iowans Living Outside the United States

United States citizens who are working or living outside the U.S. and citizens who are serving in the military (and their family members) often must register to vote and cast absentee ballots from great distances. The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA), a federal law, makes it easier for these people to participate in elections.

UOCAVA voters include people who are on active duty in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and Air Force of the United States, and:

• Spouses and dependents of members of the armed forces while in active service.



• Members of the merchant marine and their spouses and dependents.



• Civilian employees of the U.S. serving outside the territorial limits of the U.S. and their spouses and dependents that live with them.



• Members of religious or welfare agencies assisting members of the armed forces who are officially attached to and serving with the armed forces and their spouses and dependents.



• Citizens of the U.S. who live outside the U.S. may register and vote in Iowa if they were eligible electors of Iowa just before leaving the U.S. This includes citizens who were not old enough to register at the time they left the country but who lived in Iowa just before leaving.



• Citizens whose parents to qualify to vote in Iowa but who have never lived in the U.S. themselves.



• A person who was discharged from military service within 30 days before an election may vote at the polls, even if not previously registered, by presenting discharge papers to the precinct election officials. The person must also submit a voter registration application to the officials.

UOCAVA voters may apply for absentee ballots at any time before the day of the election using the Federal Postcard Application (FPCA), the official Iowa form, or they may simply write a letter requesting an absentee ballot. The FPCA acts as an absentee ballot request and a voter registration form. Completed forms should be mailed to the county auditor in the county where the voter is registered to vote. A UOCAVA request on a FPCA will be honored for all federal elections held after the application is received through the next two General elections-unless the voter asks only for a ballot for a specific election.

Proxy request forms are available for use by certain family members to request absentee ballots for relatives who qualify for armed forces and overseas ballots. Proxy requests can be used in the General Election ONLY. For more information about proxy requests, contact your county auditor.

The Federal Voting Assistance Program has provided more information for UOCAVA voters including a fillable FPCA and an information packet for Iowa UOCAVA voters.

• Federal Postcard Application (FPCA)  



• Absentee Voting Guide for Iowa UOCAVA Voters  

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Voters may cast absentee ballots at county auditors' offices prior to any election. Voters cannot take the ballot home. The county auditors' offices are open on the two Saturdays directly preceding all Primary and General elections. On Election Day, voters may not vote by absentee ballot at their county auditor's office unless the polls do not open until noon for that election. In that case, voters may cast absentee ballots at their auditor's office from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Election Day.

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Some county auditors use satellite absentee voting stations to provide absentee voting at places other than the auditor's office. The voter must mark the ballot at the station and leave it with the officials. All satellite stations must be accessible to people with disabilities.

The auditor is not required to set up satellite stations. Voters may request satellite absentee voting stations by filing petitions with the county auditor. To find out whether satellite stations are planned for any election, contact your county auditor.

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