• Hours the Polls are Open
• Find Your Precinct
• Sample Ballot / Candidate List
• Voter Registration Deadline
• Voter Registration Information
• How to Get an Absentee Ballot
• Ways to Return Voted Absentee Ballots
• Office Hours during this Election Cycle
• Special Precinct Board
• Public Test of Voting Equipment
• Election Night Results
• Canvass of Election
• Voting System
• Declaration of Political Party Affiliation
• Rotation of Names on Ballots
• Pollwatchers
• Ethics and Campaign Disclosure
• Contact Us

On General Election Day, the polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m.

Click here to find your precinct

Sample ballots will be posted to this site on or about September 25th, 2008

Saturday, October 25th is the final day to pre-register to vote in the November 4th, 2008 General Election. The office of the county auditor will be open until 5:00 p.m. on that date for eligible electors who wish to register in person. Completed voter registrations may be mailed to the county auditor, and must be received by the above deadline in order to be valid for this election.

Voters who are currently registered need not re-register unless they have changed residences from one county to another. A voter who has changed addresses within the same county as the voter is currently registered may change his/her voter registration address anytime before the election or at the voter's new polling site on Election Day.

Registering to vote is a legal requirement to be eligible to vote in Iowa. To be eligible to register to vote, you must:

• be at least 17 1/2 years of age (you must be at least 18 years of age to vote)
• be a United States citizen
• be an Iowa resident
• not have been convicted of a felony (or, if you have been convicted of a felony, have had your voting rights restored)
• not have been judged mentally incompetent by a court
• give up your right to vote in any other place.

Iowa law now allows eligible persons to register and vote at the polls on Election Day. An Election Day registrant must provide acceptable proof of identity and current residence in the precinct. Click on the link below to see the Election Day Registration Guide produced by the Iowa Secretary of State.

• Iowa Election Day Registration Guide
• Voter Registration Application - English

Iowa law states that voter registration information is a public record. However, the use of that information is restricted to bona fide political purposes or to a bona fide official governmental purpose. Use for commercial purposes is prohibited by law.

Persons advocating for or against a candidate or public measure on the ballot may request lists of registered voters from the county auditor's office in a variety of customized formats. For further information, stop by the county auditor's office in the courthouse or call (641) 754-6302.

Eligible and registered voters wishing to cast absentee ballots may vote in person at the office of the county auditor, or may make written requests for absentee ballots to be mailed to them.

A registered voter may cast an absentee ballot in the Courthouse beginning on September 25th, 2008 at 1 E. Main St., Marshalltown, IA on the 2nd floor, SE Corner during regular business hours prior to Election Day. The county auditor’s office will also be open on Saturday, October 25th and Saturday November 1st for absentee voting.

Courthouse Map & Directions

Written requests for absentee ballots:

• are required to be on the official absentee request form.
• require the voter's name, voting address, political party affiliation, name or date of the election, and voter's signature
• must be physically received by the county auditor by Friday, May 30th.
• should be addressed as follows:
  Marshall County Auditor
  1 E. Main St.
  Marshalltown, IA 50158
  

It is important to specify the name of the election (2008 General Election) or date (November 4th, 2008).

Official Absentee Ballot Application

Iowa's laws have changed. The voter may personally deliver a voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office or may designate any other person to do so. If the voter chooses to designate another person to deliver the voted absentee ballot, the voter may require the other person to fill out a receipt and give it to the voter, which the voter should keep. Iowa law requires the other person to deliver the voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office by the time the polls close on election night or no later than 72 hours after picking up the ballot from the voter, whichever occurs first.

A voted absentee ballot may be delivered in-person to the county auditor's office during regular business hours. The county auditor’s office will also be open on Saturday, October 25th and Saturday, November 1st for absentee voting.

In order to be considered on time to be counted for the November 4th, 2008 General Election, a voted absentee ballot that is personally delivered must be physically received in the county auditor's office by the time the polls close at 9:00 p.m. on election night.

A voted absentee ballot cannot be delivered to a polling place on Election Day; it will not be counted. However, a voter may surrender an absentee ballot to the precinct election officials at the polling site on Election Day, and the voter will be allowed to vote at the polls.

Courthouse Map & Directions

Mail to:

Iowa's laws have changed. The voter may personally mail a voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office or may designate any other person to do so. If the voter chooses to designate another person to mail the voted absentee ballot, the voter may require the other person to fill out a receipt and give it to the voter, which the voter should keep. Iowa law requires the other person to mail the voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office in time to have it postmarked before Election Day or no later than 72 hours after picking up the ballot from the voter, whichever occurs first.

Return postage for mailed absentee ballots has already been applied to the ballot envelope, as required by Iowa law.

In order to be considered on time to be counted for the November 4th, 2008 General Election, a voted absentee ballot that is mailed back to the county auditor's office must bear a postmark from the U.S. Postal Service dated prior to Election Day and must be received back in the county auditor's office by Monday, November 10th.

Business hours are 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Also, the county auditor's office will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the following days:

• Saturday, October 25th for voter registration and absentee voting
• Saturday, November 1st for absentee voting and returning absentee ballots

The Special Precinct Board will open and count absentee ballots beginning at 8:00 a.m. on Election Day. However, the results from the absentee ballots will not be released until shortly after the polls close at 9:00 p.m.

The public test of the county voting system will begin at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 in the Courthouse at 1 E. Main St., Marshalltown, IA 50158.

The polls close at 9:00 p.m. and unofficial election night results will be available on this website. The county auditor's office in the courthouse will be open until all precincts have reported. Members of the public are welcome to be present, or to check up-to-date totals on this website.

Remember that election night results are unofficial. They include absentee ballots and results from the precincts, but do not include results from provisional ballots that are subsequently determined to have been valid. They also do not include any valid voted absentee ballots that were postmarked prior to Election Day and that are received by Monday, November 10th.

The Marshall County board of supervisors will meet in regular session at 1:00 p.m. on Monday November 10th to canvass the results of the November 4th, 2008 General Election. At this meeting the board will canvass the tally lists and prepare official abstracts of the election results. The canvass will include election night results, as well as any provisional ballots and late-absentee ballots that are determined to be valid and on time. The meeting is open to the public.

Voters in Marshall County will use special paper ballots that will be counted at each precinct with the use of precinct-count optical-scan machines. Absentee ballots will be counted with the use of a high-speed optical-scan machine. In addition, for any voter who needs assistance in marking the ballot, a ballot-marking machine will be available in each precinct in the county. It will also be available for demonstrations and for absentee voting at the county auditor's office. All election equipment and related software has been tested and certified for use in the State of Iowa.

• M100 Precinct Tabulator
• AutoMARK Ballot Marking Device

Pursuant to Iowa law, candidates' names will be rotated; however, rotation of names only applies if there are more candidates listed on the ballot than the number of positions to be filled for that office. Ballots in the first precinct in which a specific office is listed on the ballot will show the candidates' names in alphabetical order by last name. The candidates' names will be rotated in each subsequent precinct by moving the first name to the end.

Pursuant to Iowa law, a pollwatcher at the Primary Election must be appointed and accredited by the executive or central committee of the political party the pollwatcher represents. A candidate, except for the purpose of voting, may not be present at and in the immediate vicinity of a polling place on Election Day and may not serve as a pollwatcher.

Pollwatcher Guide

A candidate or a person who advocates for or against a candidate or a ballot issue may be subject to requirements and restrictions of Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure laws. Campaign finance disclosure forms, brochures, and other information are available at www.state.ia.us/ethics: