IOWA, USA — If you are looking for early voting results in Iowa prior to Election Day, you won't have any luck.
According to Iowa Code §53.23, early voting results are released on Election Day, but not any earlier.
An election commissioner generally convenes the special precinct board to begin counting absentee ballots on the day of the election.
The commissioner can convene the board as early as the day before the election to review affidavits on the outside of the sealed envelopes. In special circumstances, the board may begin counting absentee ballots the day before Election Day if it is determined extra time is required.
"When you cast your ballot, either early by mail, in person, at a satellite, those ballots are held in a secure location in your county auditor's office," Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald told Local 5 in October. "They can't be opened until the day before the election. In Polk County we're going to have 80 of your friends and neighbors, both parties coming to open those ballots."
However, the board cannot release (publish) the early voting results until all ballots have been counted on Election Day.
All absentee ballots must be tabulated by 10 p.m. on Election Day, according to Iowa law.
Iowa is one of 23 states to allow ballots to be counted prior to the polls closing on Election Day, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
How many early votes have been cast in Iowa?
Even if you can't see actual results prior to Nov. 5, the Iowa Secretary of State's office provides daily totals of how many absentee ballots have been returned so far versus how many were issued.
As of Nov. 1, the Iowa Secretary of State's office says it has received 556,265 completed absentee ballots.
The office issued 588,375 absentee ballots in total, meaning officials have yet to receive 32,110 ballots as of Friday, Nov. 1.
When will Iowa release election results?
Polls in Iowa will close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.
Election results will likely roll in throughout the evening. Back in 2020, the first votes were reported around 9:11 p.m., according to the Associated Press. By 11 p.m., about 82% of total votes cast were reported.
