High turnout in primary pleases election officials

Clay County Auditor Marge Pitts' final primary election was one to remember.

The longtime official, who is retiring at year's end, oversaw a record turnout during last week's vote. The surge wasn't just a local trend, as Iowa broke its previous primary election record by more than 70,000 ballots.

According to the Iowa Secretary of State's Office, turnout in Clay County was 23.4 percent and 31.1 percent in O'Brien County.

"This is outstanding," said Pitts. "I think people were satisfied with how it was furnished. It was a tremendous turnout, and I know Clay County wasn't the only county that experienced higher turnout. It was fantastic all around."

Pitts credited absentee voting as the reason for the surge. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the secretary of state's office eased some restrictions for absentee voting and also mailed a ballot request form to every registered voter in Iowa. The goal was to keep people home and reduce the spread of the virus while also keeping election workers safe.

"It was nothing short of amazing," Pitts said of efforts by the secretary of state's office, which also made personal protective equipment available to election workers to keep them safe.

Each election in Clay County typically requires 90 poll workers spread across 12 voting locations. However, the number of places to cast a ballot was reduced to one last week – at the Clay County Administration Building in Spencer – with the hopes of encouraging absentee voting.

Pitts also noted it was important for her office to keep as many election workers home last week. Many of them are over the age of 60, which makes them more susceptible to COVID-19.

"Most are of the age that have been encouraged not to be out and about," said Pitts. "We decided in early February that we would try our best not to concern our usual election officials to preserve their health and safety."

With the primary election in the books, Pitts and other auditors across the state have shifted gears to November. Though she was pleased with how things were conducted in the lead-up to last week's vote, things may change if one Iowa lawmaker gets his way.

Iowa District 47 Sen. Roby Smith, R-Davenport, introduced legislation last week that would bar the secretary of state's office from lifting certain absentee voting rules during the pandemic. Many critics have said the bill would reduce voter turnout during the pandemic and make things harder on election officials, and Pitts agrees.

"[Without changes] it would have been much more difficult to conduct this election," she said. "I find it just baffling that legislators would try to make my job more difficult."

Pitts and other county auditors have contacted lawmakers in Des Moines and made their opinions known. She said she'll monitor the bill's progress and hopes to see it get shelved.

"I can't speak to the legislators' minds at this point, but I do believe they should be paying attention to people with actual boots on the ground that are running these elections," she said.

Pitts' office will begin prepping for the November election soon. Though she hoped the pandemic would ease and allow things to return to normal, she knew the situation could very well dictate otherwise.

"I do know the lessons learned through the exercise of the election will be very helpful to decisions we have to make as early as next month," she said. "We will do every thing we can to conduct a safe election for voters in November."