Mount Vernon will be host to a satellite voting station for the general election Thursday, Oct. 27. The station will be at the newly remodeled Small Athletics Wellness Center at Cornell College in the group exercise room from noon to 6 p.m.
The satellite voting station will be held after the pre-registration deadline passes for the general election, which is Monday, Oct. 24, at 5 p.m.
“The satellite voting station is open to any Linn County resident who is registered to vote,” said Val Smith with Linn County Election Services.
Voting at a satellite location is the same as absentee voting in the State of Iowa. When voting early, the voted ballot is not immediately tabulated. Instead, the ballot is locked in the Linn County Auditor’s ballot room until election day.
You must vote your absentee ballot at the early voting or satellite location, you cannot take the ballot home with you.
An accessible ballot marking device is available for voters who may need assistance.
Just like voting in a general election, voters will need to provide a form of identification to vote in the election. Those forms include:
• Iowa Voter Identification Card (needs to be signed)
• Iowa Driver’s License
• Iowa Non-Operator ID
• U.S. Military ID or Veteran ID
• U.S. Passport
• Tribal ID Card/Document
Any voter without the above forms of identification can have their identity verified by another registered voter in their precinct.
“For Cornell College students opting to vote at the satellite voting station, they need to provide an ID and a form with proof of residency,” said Matt Warfield, deputy commissioner of Linn County elections. “That can be as simple as a letter from Cornell College stating they reside at the dorm they reside at. If they don’t, they’ll need to go through the election day voting process.”
If you would like to vote absentee, but missed the satellite voting opportunity, absentee ballots can be filled out in person at 935 Second Street SW in Cedar Rapids between Oct. 19 and Nov. 7.
The deadline for requesting a ballot to be mailed is 15 days before election day. That would be Monday, Oct. 24 this year. The request must be physically in the Linn County auditor’s office by 5 p.m.
• The first day absentee ballots can be placed in the mail is Wednesday, Oct. 19.
• Early in-person absentee voting for the general election will begin on Wednesday, Oct. 19, and end at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 7.
• Voted absentee ballots returned by mail must be received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
On election day, Tuesday, Nov. 8, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Mount Vernon first district voters will vote at Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, second district voters will vote at Mount Vernon City Hall and Franklin Township (which includes the City of Lisbon) at Lisbon City Hall.