Some lections may be consolidated in Iowa

Iowa’s Secretary of State says it’s time to consolidate elections. Iowa has party primaries in June, school board elections in September and a variety of local elections throughout the year. Secretary of State Chet Culver says some counties are forced to spend big bucks to hold election after election.Nearly 80 percent of Iowa’s precincts use “optical scanners” or computerized machines for voting, and Culver says the rest should be “encouraged” to switch to that method.Culver will hold five public hearings around the state in January to discuss election-related issues. Culver made his comments on Iowa Public Television.