(Des Moines, Iowa) – The Primary Election will be upon us in less than a day. Secretary of State/Elections Commissioner Paul Pate spoke with KJAN News about the day, it’s importance, and what it means for incumbents and challengers for County, State and Federal positions.

While the General Election determines who steps into office on January 1st, 2023, Pate says the Primary set the stage for the nominating process.

The Primary serves as a way whittle-down the number of candidates for a given seat, before the General Election in November.

An incumbent who doesn’t win the Primary, will not be on the ballot for the November General Election, but that person does have the option to their name as a Write-in. Otherwise, their current term in office will expire at the end of the year.

Almost 65,000 people have voted absentee in this year’s primary election. This outpaces absentee vote totals from the previous midterm primary in 2018. ALL absentee ballots MUST be received by your county auditor no later than 8:00 P.M. on Election Day. The main thing Sec. Of State Pate wants Iowans to know one more thing….

The polls open at 7-a.m. Tuesday and close at 8-p.m. We’ll have the local election results on-air and on the web at kjan.com, as soon as they are released from the County Auditor’s Offices.