(Radio Iowa) – County election officials are urging Iowa voters to return their absentee ballots for next Tuesday’s election quickly. Adams County Auditor, Becky Bissell says changes by the Iowa Legislature now require your ballot to be received by your county auditor on Election Day to be counted.  “So now we have what we refer to as like a drop-dead date. So it has to be in the auditor’s office by 8 p-m on Election Day,” Bissell says.

She says depending on where you live, it might be too late to put your ballot in the mail.  “In southwest Iowa, I would not recommend putting it in the mail, because our mail goes to Des Moines and then back to us. And so I do fear that it’s not going to get back to me in time if my voters were to be putting it into the mail now,” according to Bissell.

Adams County (IA) Auditor Rebecca Bissell

Bissell says you should instead bring your completed ballot to your county auditor’s office or use the ballot dropbox in counties where those are available.

(reporting by Katarina Sostaric, Iowa Public Radio)