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Ida County working hard to handle absentee ballots

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November 6th, 2012 by Ric Hanson

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Ida County election officials are working extra hard this Election Day because of a large number of absentee ballots and only a few sets of hands. Auditor Lorna Steenbock says there are three officials handling about 1,100 absentee ballots in the western Iowa county of 7,000 people. That’s about 500 more than in the last presidential election. Steenbock says all the staffers are extremely careful and take their time. Her office should be able to report the results on time, but the auditor says they’ve taken on an extra help from the assessor’s office. She says, “It’s been huge for us.” Steenbock says it could be the hotly contested presidential race, or maybe absentee voting is “just a thing of convenience now.”