DES MOINES, Iowa — Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate encouraged Iowans to vote absentee in this year's Primary Election.
"We have a no-excuse absentee program here in Iowa, so why not vote that way so those of you in the at-risk population, particularly don't expose yourself," Pate said.
If you do decide to vote in person, Iowa is offering curbside voting for those who might have trouble entering a polling place and Iowans who are in the Center for Disease Control's at-risk population for COVID-19.
Before you go to your polling site, double-check you're still voting in the same place.
Counties may not have the same sites this year because of COVID-19. Many counties also have fewer volunteers, so they're having multiple precincts vote from the same location.
"When you look at poll workers, they're typically our senior population and those are the ones at highest risk for the coronavirus," Pate said. "Many of these people are still willing to be poll workers, but from where I'm standing, I would prefer to thank and compliment those people who are older, but ask them to maybe sit this one out and let some people off the bench come in who are younger, in this case, to help out. That means our bench is a little lighter, so we don't have as many people, to be very candid. With that in mind, the counties had to look at how many people they really have available to be poll workers, then they build out how many polling sites they can have."
Pate said his staff is working with county auditors to come up with best practices to use at polling sites.
Pate said they're considering adding markings on the ground to show how far apart people should stand.
He also said hand sanitizer will be available at all locations.
"The end goal is a safe environment for the voter and for the poll worker and to give everyone every Iowan an opportunity to vote," Pate said.
Republican Congressional candidates that are facing off in Iowa's third congressional district said they're happy to see the election is on track to happen in June.
"Sticking with that date is great," David Young of Van Meter said. "I think it's important. And the Secretary of State made some modifications on how to go about doing that, which I think we're proper during this time."
"I am very hopeful that it remains on schedule and personally, I think it will remain on schedule, based on the information that we have available today," Bill Schafer of Prole said.
"I don't think, at this point, there's any need to cancel the June Primary," Gov. Kim Reynolds said Thursday at her coronavirus briefing. "I know the Secretary of State has been very proactive. I have complete confidence in the Secretary of State and the local auditors all across the state of Iowa to conduct the elections with integrity, as they have always done. So right now, we're going to continue to monitor the data."
You can start mailing in absentee ballots on April 23.
If you want to vote by mail, request a ballot from your county auditor.
"I think people need to understand your vote is important, even in this time of crisis," Pate said.
Pate said it's important to double-check your voter information is correct before requesting a ballot.