State election officials report requests for absentee ballots for the November election have dramatically increased compared to the last “midterm” election.
It’s called a midterm election because it’s held in the middle of the four-year presidential term, when voter turn-out is lower. As of Friday, over 112,000 Iowans had asked for an absentee ballot. That’s twice as many as were requested by this point in 2010.
Just over half of this year’s absentee ballot requests came from registered Democrats. Just over a quarter have come from Republicans. The rest came from Iowans registered as “no party” or independent voters. Early voting in Iowa starts this Thursday, September 25.
Statistics from the Iowa Secretary of State’s office:
Total absentee ballot requests for 2014 election as of Friday: 112,178
Requests from registered Democrats: 57,869
Requests from registered Republicans: 31,099
Requests from registered “no party” voters: 23,043
Requests from voters registered in other parties: 167
Total absentee ballot requests at this point in September, 2010: 56,725
Requests from registered Democrats: 34,318
Requests from registered Republicans: 12,710
Requests from registered “no party” voters: 9,664
Requests from voters registered in other parties: 33