General election absentee requests now being accepted

LEE COUNTY - Lee County Auditor Denise Fraise announces that the Lee County Auditor’s Office is now accepting absentee ballot requests for the November 8, 2022 General Election.

Request forms can be obtained on the County website- www.leecounty.org – under the heading “I want to …. Get… Absentee Ballot” Click on “Absentee Ballot Request Form” to download a request form. You must include the date the request is signed. Requests should be delivered or mailed to the Lee County Auditor, 933 Avenue H Fort Madison IA  52627. 

Absentee ballots will be available on Wednesday, October 19, 2022. This is the first day that absentee ballots may be mailed to voters.  It is also the first day to vote absentee in person at the County Auditor’s Office, Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. or the Courthouse in Keokuk, from 8:30 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.  Eligible voters may vote in person until November 7th at 4:30 p.m.  These offices will also be open on Saturday, November 5^th from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for absentee voting.

All absentee ballots must be received by the County Auditor by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 8th.  Postmarks or bar codes printed on ballot envelopes will no longer make a ballot received after Election Day valid except ballots from 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 the Monday following the election and ballots from uniformed and overseas citizens received by noon on the Monday following the election.

The only people who may return a voted absentee ballot to the County Auditor’s Office other than the voter, are someone living in the voter’s household, an immediate family member, the 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 General Election is Monday, October 24^th at 5:00 p.m.  If an eligible elector is not already 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 Lee County website – www.leecounty.org – under the heading “I want to …. Register… To Vote” Click on “Register to Vote” to download a voter registration form.  The completed form should be mailed to the Lee County Auditor, 933 Avenue H Fort Madison IA.
2. Register to vote in person at the County Auditor’s Office by October 24^th at 5:00 p.m. After October 24^th, you may register and vote in person until 4:30 p.m. November 7th. You must show proof of identity and proof of residency.
3. Register to vote online: Voters may go to https://sos.iowa.gov/ and follow the online voter registration link.  An Iowa driver’s license or non-operator ID is required for online registration.

Eligible electors may also register to vote at their polling site on Election Day with both proof of identify 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 General Election on November 8, 2022, from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.    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.