By Shane Goodman | Times Vedette
Guthrie County will continue with its practice of not having outdoor ballot drop boxes for absentee ballots, according to Guthrie County Auditor Dani Fink.
“Iowa code on ballot drop boxes is very specific, and I do not feel a drop box is necessary for the amount of absentee ballots we process,” Fink told the Times Vedette.
The Greene County Board of Supervisors agreed with the decision of Greene County Auditor Billie Jo Hoskins to keep their outdoor absentee ballot drop box on the east side of the courthouse building.
The Greene County Republican Central Committee sent a letter to Hoskins, dated April 25, signed by 15 committee members and State Senator Jesse Green, requesting that the drop box be removed, according to a story in the Jefferson Herald. The letter stated that the drop box “has outlived its purpose and should have been removed once Governor Kim Reynolds ended the pandemic in February 2022.”
According to the Herald story, the letter cited an Iowa election law requirement that only the voter, a housemate, or immediate family member or caregiver may send in a ballot by mail or deliver it directly to the auditor’s office. An exception exists for people with disabilities who may designate a delivery agent or a relative or household member to return their ballot. The letter stated that 28 of Iowa’s 99 counties use ballot drop boxes. Iowa law requires that the drop boxes be emptied four times a day, including on Saturdays and Sundays.
“Voters can drop their ballots off in person at our office, or place them back in the mail,” Fink said in reference to Guthrie County. “This is a decision each county makes for themselves, and they have to follow the code set by the State.”