Ballot blowout

It's official – last month's general election was a record breaker.

The Iowa State Canvassing Board on Monday officially certified the results of the Nov. 3 election. Turnout was the highest in state history, with more than 1.7 million voters casting ballots. Iowa's turnout percentage of 76 percent was one of the highest in the nation.

"I'm proud of all the work our election officials and poll workers put in and of the way Iowans showed up in record numbers to make their voices heard," Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate said in a news release. "Despite the pandemic, we had record-breaking turnout in the June primary and November general election. That shows once again that Iowans' commitment to civic engagement is unrivaled."

The previous high was 1,589,951 set in 2012. The percentage of registered voters that participated was 75.77 percent – one of the highest turnout rates in the country – and every county in the state surpassed 65 percent turnout.

Numbers in O'Brien County aligned closely with statewide averages, with 76.5 percent of voters turning out. That tally was the highest turnout in the last two decades and surpassed 2016's watermark of 74.2 percent.

O'Brien County Auditor Barb Rohwer credited absentee ballots for the boost. The number of absentee votes cast increased from 28.3 percent in 2016 to 48.5 percent this year, which set a new record. Absentee ballot request forms were mailed to every registered Iowa voter this year due to the pandemic, and election officials strongly encouraged voters to utilize the option to reduce the spread of COVID-19.

"I think we're going to continue to see that absentee precinct continue to grow and grow after this year," Rohwer said. "People found out how nice it was to sit down at their kitchen table and fill their ballots out. If they had a question about something, they could Google it and take their time. At the polls, you can't ask an election official about this candidate or that issue."

The previous record was set in 2012 when 29.3 percent of O'Brien County voters cast their ballots absentee.

"We had no problems on Election Day," said Rohwer. "The nice part was the primary gave us a sneak peak to let us know what we were going to do with social distancing and fun things like that."

Rohwer said the changes this year helped streamline certain aspects of Election Day, like reducing the number of polling locations in Sheldon. Since the city is separated into wards, she said voters often get confused about which polling location is the correct one.

"Usually you have some people that are running around trying to figure out where they're supposed to be, but we didn't have that," she said. "It all came together really well."