Iowans Urged To Vote By Mail

President Donald Trump has said in press conferences that he does not encourage voting by mail, despite the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate may disagree.

Iowa's News Now says Pate intends to proactively send mail-in absentee ballots to each registered voter in Iowa for upcoming elections. Pate says that because most Iowa counties will reduce their in-person polling locations by about 20 percent, mail-in is his suggestion. In Linn County, the number of in-person polls is dropping from 86 to 19 and in Johnson County, it's being cut by nearly half

Linn County Auditor Joel Miller concurred with Pate and explained the need for the precautions:

We need people to stay at home and not endanger our precinct election officials.

Miller is working to secure Personal Protective Equipment or PPE for poll workers. Masks, hand sanitizer, and plexiglass shields are among the items he's ordering.