Early primary election voting has begun

Although the preferred and safest way to vote in the June 2 primary election is by mail, the Mills County Auditor’s Office has announced procedures for residents who want to vote in person at the Mills County Courthouse in Glenwood prior to the June 2 primary election.

Monday, May 4, was the beginning of absentee or early voting in person at the county courthouse for the primary election, Mills County Auditor Carol Robertson said in a statement last week.

“On a normal year, that is not a problem. This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the courthouse currently closed to the public, we must think out of the normal box,” Robertson said. “In order to accommodate your right to vote and keep you and the auditor’s staff safe for in-person voting, these are the procedures we will put in place:”

1) Four parking stalls will be set aside for voters in the employee south parking lot outside the courthouse.

2) Each stall will have a sign giving the phone number at the auditor’s office for the voter to call from their vehicle.

3) Auditor’s office staff will ask for the voter’s name and if the person has an absentee request form with them.

4) Voters should receive a form in the mail from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office. More than 10,000 of the forms are being mailed out this week to Mills County residents. The auditor’s office staff prefer voters have the form filled out ahead of time.

5) If a voter does not have a request form, one will be provided.

6) Auditor’s office staff will ask the voter if he or she has a pen of their own. If not, a pen will be provided.

7) A member of the auditor’s office staff will come to the voter’s vehicle and retrieve the request form from the voter and then return with a ballot and a seal for the envelope to place the ballot in. The sealed envelope will then be collected from the voter.

“I understand this seems like a huge ordeal and we ask your patience in trying to keep you safe,” Robertson said.
Robertson noted that voters have two other options available for voting:

1) Mills County residents may vote by mail until 5 p.m. on Friday, May 22.

2)  Mills County residents may go to the polls on Election Day (Tuesday, June 2) from 7 a.m. to 9 pm.