DAVENPORT, IOWA (August 6, 2020) — Roxanna Moritz, Scott County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections, announced today she is mailing absentee ballot-request forms to all active voters in Scott County for the November 3, 2020 General Election. The forms will be mailed in two waves. The first wave, to voters outside of Davenport (including Bettendorf, Eldridge, LeClaire, and other towns and unincorporated areas), will be mailed on August 11. The second wave to voters in Davenport will be mailed on August 17.
“We have to take steps to limit exposure to the corona virus for the county’s precinct election officials and the general public,” Moritz said. “In 2016, we had 45,527 voters go to the 63 polling places in Scott County, and in 2012, we had 46,621 voters. Numbers like that going to our polling places represents a huge opportunity for community spread of COVID-19,” Moritz said.
Moritz cited the success of absentee-voting in the 2020 Primary Election in June as an example of how to help stop the spread of COVID-19. “In the June 2 Primary Election, 72.5% of voters cast absentee ballots in a record-breaking election. A big reason for this very successful election was Secretary of State Paul Pate mailing absentee ballot-requests to every active voter in Iowa.” Moritz said. In Scott County 24,371 voters cast ballots, with 17,668 casting their ballots absentee.
“Last June, we had to consolidate polling places, and it would have been a public health disaster to accommodate that many people at the polls,” Moritz said. “Several of our usual locations were hesitant to open their facilities to the general public, and some locations did not lend themselves to social-distancing, all of which necessitated combining locations,” she said.
Moritz encourages all voters to consider voting by absentee ballot, and the first step is to complete the absentee ballot-request form. She said for privacy the request form can be reverse-folded and taped shut in the corners. Return postage is free to the voter.
