ELECTION DAY REGISTRATION

Voting Booth

Mahaska County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, Susan L. Brown, is asking that eligible voters in Mahaska County who have not yet registered or changed their Mahaska County address with her office consider doing so before the early voter registration deadline of Friday, April 22, 2016 by 5 PM.

In January 2008, Iowa law was adopted to allow eligible persons the right to register to vote and cast a ballot on Election Day if they are able to provide proof of both their identity and residency at the polls. The best form of ID is a valid Iowa Driver’s license with current address. If your license has an old address on it, you can use the license as proof of identity and use one of the following as proof of residence if it contains your name and current address: Current residential lease, Property tax statement, Utility bill (including a cell phone bill), bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government documents (vehicle registration, tax assessment, etc.).

If you do not have an Iowa driver’s license, you can provide another ID as long as it contains your photo and is current, valid, and contains an expiration date. The expiration date must be the day the voter is registering or later or list “None” as the expiration date. Temporary paper licenses or IDs issued by the IDOT are acceptable.

If you do not have proof of residence and identity, a registered voter in your precinct may attest to your identity and residence as long as the attester has not attested for anyone else and was not attested for in this election. You will both be required to sign an oath.

In the event that none of the above is possible, you will still be allowed to vote a provisional ballot at your polling site and provide the necessary documentation to the Auditor’s office by Noon, Thursday, May 5.

The Auditor is requesting eligible voters still make every attempt to register by mail or in person at the Auditor’s office prior to the close of pre-registration at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, April 22, 2016. That will assure time for the Auditor’s Office to complete the voter registration process and mail a Voter Registration Card to each registrant. That Voter Registration Card will indicate the location of the correct precinct. After April 22, 2016, new registrations in Mahaska County, will be required to follow the same process as those registering on election day. If voting at the polls, any Mahaska County voter who has not changed their address with the Auditor’s Office prior to the April 22nd deadline, will need to change their address at their new voting precinct on election day and show proof of residency.

Persons that are already registered to vote at their current residence do not need to re-register to participate in this election.

Voter Registration forms can be obtained on line at www.sos.state.ia.us/elections, or www.mahaskacounty.org or at the Auditor’s Office. Registrations should be mailed to Mahaska County Auditor, 106 South 1st Street, Oskaloosa, IA 52577. The Auditor’s office is open weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Any questions concerning this process or about the Special Election can be answered by calling 641-673-7148.