Monday marks the start of absentee voting for the November election, and those wishing to obtain a ballot early must start by obtaining the necessary request form.

These are available at the county auditor’s office in the Marion County Courthouse; Jody Koffman is the Elections Administrator for the county, and she tells KNIA/KRLS News anyone seeking a ballot must first make sure they’re registered.

“They can register on line if they have an Iowa driver’s license, or an Iowa non-operator ID; so that’s the first step, is making sure that they’re registered,” Koffman says. “Then they need to fill out an absentee ballot request form; so we can mail them one, or they can go to the Secretary of State’s website, print one off there; or they can go to our Marion County website and print one off there, too.”

The last day to obtain ballot requests is on Saturday, October 27th; ballots must be postmarked by Monday, November 5th in order to be counted.