~provided by the Greene County auditor’s office
The regular city/school election will be held November 2, 2021. The city/school election will use regular general election precincts except for the City of Jefferson; the three precincts will be combined, and all will vote at the Greene County Community Center for this election
The Iowa legislature in its 2021 session made many law changes. These changes are in effect for the city/school election. Eligible voters in Greene County may request an absentee ballot for the city/school election from the Greene County auditor’s office. The deadline to request an absentee ballot to be mailed for this election is Monday, Oct. 18, 2021.
The first day that absentee ballots may be mailed to voters is Oct. 13, 2021. This is also the first day to vote absentee in person which will take place in the east lobby of the Greene County Courthouse. Eligible voters may vote in person until Nov. 1, 2021 at 5 pm.
Absentee ballot requests must include all of the required information, including the election date and type. The requests must also have the date that the form was signed. The Greene County auditor’s office may send absentee ballot request forms only if it is requested by the voter. Absentee ballot requests forms may be sent to the voters by candidates, political groups, and other private organizations, but no fields on the request form may be prefilled except for the type and date of the election
All absentee ballots must be received by the county auditor by 8 pm on Election Day, Nov. 2, 2021, in order to be counted. Postmarks or bar codes printed on return ballot envelopes will no longer make a ballot received after Election Day valid, with the exception of participants in the Safe at Home program received by the Secretary of State in time to be transmitted to the county auditor by noon on Monday following the election and ballots from uniformed and overseas citizens (UOCAVA) received by noon on the Monday following the election.
The only people who may return a voted absentee ballot to the auditor’s office other than the voter are persons living in the voter’s household, an immediate family member, special precinct election officials who deliver a ballot to the resident of a health care facility, or a delivery agent if a voter is unable to return a ballot due to blindness or other disability.
The deadline to pre-register to vote in the city/school election is Oct. 18, 2021. If an eligible elector is not already to registered to vote, he or she may do so in one of the following ways:
1.Register to vote by mail: Voter registration forms are available on the Greene County website at: www.greenecounty.iowa.gov under the Auditor’s tab. The completed form should be delivered or mailed to the Greene County Auditor’s Office 114 N. Chestnut Street, Jefferson, Iowa 50129.
2.Register to vote in person at the Greene County auditor’s office by Oct. 18, 2021 at 5 pm.
3. Register to vote online: Voters may go to https://sos.iowa.gov and follow the online registration link. An Iowa driver’s license or non-operator ID is required for online registration.
Eligible electors may also register to vote on Election Day with both proof of identity and proof of residency. This “SAME DAY VOTER REGISTRATION” procedure may slow up the voting experience for voters choosing to wait until Election Day to register and vote at the polling site.
Polls will be open for the city/school election on Nov. 2, 2021, from 7 am to 8 pm. For a provisional ballot to be counted, the voter must either provide the necessary identification at the polling place before it closes at 8 pm or provide the necessary identification at the county auditor’s office by noon on Nov. 8, 2021. Employers must allow employees two consecutive hours to vote on Election Day if the employee does not already have two consecutive hours off during the time the polls are open.
Persons who have questions on absentee voting, registering to vote or election questions in general may contact the Greene County auditor’s office at 515-386-5680 or by e-mail at auditor@greenecounty.iowa.gov.
