Outsmarting the repugs with absentee ballot requests

[SharonClark]

"Polk County plans to send voters absentee ballot request forms" - Des Moines Register 7/7/2020

"Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald said his office will send every registered voter an absentee ballot request form before Election Day as a safety precaution against the potential spread of coronavirus.
. . .
In 2018, Polk County sent 86,105 ballots to voters, and 78,068 were returned, according to data from the Iowa Secretary of State. In 2016, the county sent 96,388 absentee ballots to voters, with 88,114 returned. Those numbers may not reflect voters whose ballots were received by the Auditor's Office after Election Day, or voters who opted to vote in-person.

The decision to mail absentee ballot request forms in the state's largest county comes after the secretary of state's office mailed similar forms to every registered Iowa voter before the June 2 primary. That election saw record turnout and more than 411,000 people voted absentee, up from 38,000 in the 2016 primary election.

But Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a law forbidding a secretary of state from doing similar mass mailings in the future without the permission of a legislative panel. Secretary of State Paul Pate has not yet made that request for the November election."

https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/elections/2020/07/07/polk-county-send-registered-voters-absentee-ballot-request-forms/5384729002/

[Baitball Blogger]

1. If you request an absentee ballot, and don't plan to use it, be sure to take it

with you when you go to vote in person. The person at the door might give you a hard time if you are listed as receiving one. Be prepared to write in "VOID" when you return it to them, before voting.

[Sherman A1]

2. I would think that our cost conscious GOP

Would be interested in mail ballots as they are likely a less expensive means of holding elections, but then there is that pesky increased voter turnout thing for them.