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Early voter turnout steady at Floyd County Courthouse

  • Susan LeMaster (left) and Lois Henry (right) help run the voting at Charles City Precinct No. 1 at the Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City during the 2018 midterm election on Tuesday. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra

  • The voting machine that accepts and tallies registered voters' ballots sits ready for use on Tuesday at the Floyd County Courthouse. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra

  • A Floyd County resident casts her vote on Tuesday at the courthouse in Charles City during the 2018 midterm election. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra

  • Angie Sinnwell puts her ballot in the scanner on Tuesday at the Floyd County Courthouse in Charles City on Tuesday during the 2018 midterm election. Press photo by Kelly Terpstra

By Kelly Terpstra, kterpstra@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County residents hit the polls starting early on Tuesday to cast their votes.

A brisk fall wind didn’t shy away registered voters from checking the appropriate boxes on their ballot as the midterm election brought out many across the state and the nation to support political candidates.

By 2 p.m. Tuesday, Lois Henry said, twice as many people had voted at the Floyd County Courthouse in this year’s midterm compared to the 2014 election.

The courthouse, which is the voting location for Precinct No. 1 in Charles City, had well over 200 votes tallied on the scanner that accepts each voter’s ballot. That number was sure to climb much higher once the sun went down and many potential voters got off work.

Henry is the Precinct No. 1 election official chairperson. She said one of the reasons she thought a lot more voters came out this year as opposed to four years ago is that there are more candidates running.

“There’s more contested races,” said Henry.

A total of 1,142,311 people voted in Iowa in 2014. That was the highest voter turnout in Iowa for a midterm election in more than 30 years. As early returns came through on Tuesday, that record could be shattered.

The Iowa Secretary of State’s Office reported on Tuesday that 529,000 Iowans had voted by absentee ballot in the weeks leading up to election night.

Henry said she has been a precinct election official for 20 years and said she would put in around 16 hours helping organize and run precinct No. 1 Tuesday.

“We get here at 6 and we’ll leave around 10,” she said.

Beginning this year, Iowans are asked to present a voter ID or proof of identification to cast an election ballot. If they cannot present one, they will have to sign an oath to verify their identity.

Henry said the new procedures put in place before one can cast their vote have gone very smoothly.

“People are very compliant,” Henry said.

Henry said she was very happy about the turnout by early afternoon on Tuesday.

“It’s good to be involved in voting. We need more people involved in voting. If you don’t vote, you can’t complain,” laughed Henry.

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