The Pottawattamie County Auditor says 18,000 registered voters have requested early voting ballots, a new record.
Marilyn Jo Drake says she expects one-third of the county’s registered voters will already have cast ballots by Election Day. In 2008, 14,000 people voted early in Pottawattamie County.
Drake says more people are taking advantage of the early voting option because there’s more attention being paid to it this election cycle.
“There is media coverage every single day on the radio and the television, besides the newsprint, and everyone has an opinion, and I think that has really fired up America more than ever before.”
Drake says her office will be open this Saturday, and extended hours next Monday, to accommodate last-minute early voters. As of last Friday, more than 624,000 Iowans had requested absentee ballots.