Vote in
Register by October 19
The deadline has passed. Any voter who is not registered by the pre-registration deadline may still register and vote by providing proof of identity and residence. This is called Election Day Registration, even if it is done during in-person absentee voting at your county auditor’s office or at your polling place on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26Check you are registered. If you are not, do it now.
Go to Iowa registration →Vote early October 14 to November 2
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1 day left.
In-person absentee voting runs Wednesday, October 14 through Monday, November 2, 2026, ending at 5 p.m. the day before the election, at your county auditor’s office or a satellite location if your county offers one.
Pick your day
Early voting is the real date. Same ballot, shorter line, and if something is wrong with your registration you still have days to fix it.
Facts · Read Oct 26Election Day, November 3. Last resort.
Where to vote
Find your polling placeIowa law requires you to vote at the polling place for the precinct where you live.Read October 26, 2026 from Iowa Secretary of State.
Registered at home but living somewhere else?What Iowa says to do when the address you are registered at is not the address you live at.
We have not confirmed Iowa’s rule for this from an official source yet, so we are not printing one. Check which address you are registered at, then ask that county election office what to do.
All the datesRegistering online, by mail and in person, checking your registration, your polling place, and when polls close in Iowa.
Register by
Monday, October 19, 2026 is the pre-registration deadline. After that you can still register and vote with proof of identity and residence during in-person absentee voting or at your polling place on Election Day.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register online
The Voter Ready registration page says online registrations must be completed by 11:59 p.m. CT fifteen days before the election, which the state prints as Monday, October 19. You register online through the Iowa DOT with an Iowa driver’s license or non-operator ID and the last five digits of your Social Security Number.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register by mail
The Voter Ready registration page says a mailed registration must be received by your county auditor by 5:00 p.m. CT or postmarked fifteen days before the election, which is Monday, October 19.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register in person
Pre-register at your county auditor’s office by October 19, or register and vote in person with proof of identity and residence during in-person absentee voting or at your polling place on Election Day, November 3, 2026.
Facts · Read Oct 26Register and vote the same day
If you cannot prove who you are and where you live on Election Day, a registered voter from your precinct may attest for you.
Facts · Read Oct 26Early, in person
In-person absentee voting runs Wednesday, October 14 through Monday, November 2, 2026, ending at 5 p.m. the day before the election, at your county auditor’s office or a satellite location if your county offers one.
Facts · Read Oct 26Find your polling place
Iowa law requires you to vote at the polling place for the precinct where you live.
Facts · Read Oct 26Polls close
Polls are open 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Central time on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Facts · Read Oct 26What to bringThe ID Iowa accepts, and what to do if you do not have one.
ID your state accepts
- Iowa Driver's License (not expired more than 90 days)
- Iowa Non-Operator ID (not expired more than 90 days)
- U.S. Passport (not expired)
- U.S. Military ID or Veteran ID (not expired)
- Iowa Voter Identification Card (must be signed)
- Tribal ID Card/Document (must be signed, with photo, not expired)
The county auditor automatically mails a free Iowa Voter Identification Card to every voter who has neither an Iowa driver’s license nor a non-operator ID.
Facts · Read Oct 26If you do not have one
The state no longer offers an attester in place of ID in this answer. Read on October 14, 2026, the page says only that a voter without one of the listed IDs may prove identity and residence with Election Day Registration documents, or vote a provisional ballot.
Facts · Read Oct 26Carry a second document
- Residential lease
- Utility bill, including a cell phone bill
- Bank statement
- Paycheck
- Government check
- Other government document
- Property tax statement
Proof of residence, needed if your ID does not show your current address, such as when you have moved or are registering at the polls. It must show your name and current address and be current within 45 days, on paper or on your phone.
Facts · Read Oct 26Make the plan
Three taps. No account. It stays on this phone.
Roll Call
Lock your date, bring your people, and see how your side is doing.
Who runs your election
The Iowa Secretary of State administers elections in Iowa. Your county or parish election office runs the polling places, counts the ballots, and answers questions about your own ballot. They are the people to call, and the ones whose answer is final.
Statewide offices are the ones every voter in Iowa votes on, and every ballot counts the same from any precinct in the state. District seats are drawn on a map, so where you live decides which of those you vote on.
Some years a ballot also asks voters to change the rules of voting itself. Those questions tend to cover:
- what counts as ID at the polls or with a mail ballot
- how early voting and mail voting work, and by when
- how districts get drawn and who draws them
- how the election office itself is run and funded
We do not tell you what is on your ballot or what to make of it. Your sample ballot carries the official wording, written by the state. Read it at the Iowa Secretary of State.
Mail, honestlyVoting by mail works. It also has rules, and the rules are where ballots get lost.
Your dates are above: when to ask for the ballot, when it has to be back, what happens if a signature is questioned.
- Sign exactly the way you signed when you registered.
- Send it back early, not on the last day.
- Would rather not trust the mail? Check the early in-person window above and go in person.
Ask for your ballot by
Received, not postmarked: your county auditor must receive the signed request before 5:00 p.m. CT on Monday, October 19, 2026. Any registered voter may vote absentee.
Facts · Read Oct 26It has to be back by
Received, not postmarked: your county auditor must receive the ballot before 8:00 p.m. CT on Election Day, by mail or by hand delivery. Voted absentee ballots cannot be delivered to a polling place.
Facts · Read Oct 26Track your ballot
Track the status of your absentee ballot after your county auditor receives your request.
Facts · Read Oct 26If your signature is questioned
Checking. We have not found the Iowa Secretary of State describing how to fix a problem with a returned absentee ballot, so we print nothing yet. Ask your state election office.
The lineIf the line is long, that is not a reason to leave. It is a reason to stay.
Bring water. Bring a charger. Bring a chair if you can carry one, a book, and a friend. Check your bag rules with your county first. If you are in line when the polls close, stay in line: your state decides what happens next, and every state page here prints its own rule in its own words.
- Water
- A charger
- A chair if you can
- Something to read
- A friend
If you are in line when polls close in Iowa
Checking. We have not found the Iowa Secretary of State stating on its own pages that a voter in line at 8:00 p.m. may vote, so we do not print it yet. Ask your state election office.
Time off to vote
Your rightsA provisional ballot, help if you need it, and the number to call from the line.
You can vote a provisional ballot
If your name is not on the list, or you do not have what they ask for, ask for a provisional ballot. In a federal election you have the right to cast one. Ask what you must do afterwards for it to count, and write it down.
You can bring someone to help
You can bring a person of your choice to help you vote, with limits your state sets on who it cannot be. Ask the poll worker for the rule in writing.
Language and disability assistance
Polling places must be accessible, and many places must provide help in other languages. Ask for the accessible machine, the curbside option, or the language help you need.
If someone tries to move you off your vote
Questions about your citizenship, a crowd following you in, someone filming you at the door, a person telling you that you cannot vote: none of that decides your vote. Do not leave the line. Call the hotline from where you stand.
Sources: the Iowa Secretary of State, and the Election Protection coalition for the hotlines below.
Call from the line
If anyone tells you that you cannot vote, or you are turned away, or something feels wrong: do not leave. Call.
- 866-OUR-VOTE866-687-8683 · English
- 888-VE-Y-VOTA888-839-8682 · Spanish and English
- 888-API-VOTE888-274-8683 · Asian languages and English
- 844-YALLA-US844-925-5287 · Arabic and English
Election Protection, administered by the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. Numbers confirmed against their own site on September 19, 2026.
Your state election office is the final word. We print what its own pages say, with the date we read them.
A few of Iowa’s details are still being confirmed with its election office. Those are marked Checking and link straight to the state.
Read on October 26, 2026 from your state election office, checked by AI against the Iowa Secretary of State pages. Iowa Secretary of State is the final word. See something wrong? Report it.