I stay to vote...

 Plan to Vote in Iowa?

Yes, we do too. However, it was recently brought home to me that we cannot receive an absentee ballot before October 19th.

Our usual routine was to go to the courthouse sometime in early October and make out our absentee ballot and be on our merry way to South Texas. But this year is different. Some industrious lawmakers have taken it upon themselves to tinker with the laws. Yes, we do see through the motive. For some reason, they think if they have fewer people voting and keep a good share of what they label “Less Desirables” from the ballot box it will increase their chances of winning. Could it be they have had a hard time winning in the past and feel a need to better their chances?  I see no good reason for these shenanigans. Every US citizen should be encouraged to vote, not hindered!

So how does this affect my everyday life?  In the past, we left for Texas around the middle of October. So what is stopping you, you might say? If we go to the courthouse before the 19th we can REQUEST an absentee ballot and they will gladly put it in the mail addressed to our Texas address on the 19th! By law, they cannot send it out any earlier. It can typically take 2 to 3 weeks for mail to get from Iowa to Texas and there are no guarantees! October 19th to Election day is 21 days. So say they mail it promptly and it arrives in the usual two-week window, arriving in our Texas mailbox on November 1st (the 14th day), leaving 7 DAYS to make the return trip to Iowa and arrive on Election day. How do you like those odds? If we choose this method we are playing Russian Roulet with our vote.

The alternate solution is to wait until the 19th, go to the courthouse, make out our absentee ballot, and leave it with the election people. And that is what we will be doing but why should we have to!

Friends heading for Florida are in the same predicament and their solution is to overnight their ballot back to Iowa. I see holes in this plan. They are hoping that everything works in an expected way. They may change their mind.

Barbara Brooker-an Iowa citizen

Feel free to copy. All Iowans headed South this fall need to be aware of the rule change.