DAVENPORT, IOWA (July 9, 2020) — Scott County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Roxanna Moritz announced today that her office will send Absentee Ballot Requests to all active registered voters in Scott County for the November 3rd General Election. She said the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated this action to slow the spread of the disease and to protect poll workers and her staff.
She is joining many other county auditors in Iowa who have decided to mail absentee ballot-requests to all registered voters in their counties, including Polk, Linn, Woodbury, Blackhawk, Dubuque, Clinton, and other counties. She is taking this action after the Iowa Legislative Council refused to give authority for a statewide mailing by the Iowa Secretary State. Paul Pate is the Iowa Secretary of State.
“I was hoping that Sec Pate would have the authority to mail request forms to all active registered voters just as he successfully did for the June Primary Election,” Moritz said. “Most people support what he did and believe that it led to a highly-successful election with record breaking turnout,” she added.
“After the Legislative Council made its decision I tasked my staff to review the budget and find the funds necessary for a county-wide mailing,” Moritz said. “The need for this action only grew as COVID-19 numbers exploded nationally, and grew at an alarming rate in Iowa and the Quad Cities, including Scott County. That is when I decided that we have to take action now,” she said.
Moritz said that she plans to send the mailing in August so voters have plenty of time to fill out and return their request forms before the election. She said the forms will include prepaid postage so they can be mailed back without cost to the voters.
