Student Voting Guide | Iowa
This student voting guide explains the laws for the state of Iowa. If you wish to vote from your school address, check the student voting guide for the state where you attend school. If you want to cast an absentee ballot in your home state, check the student voting guide for that state.
The Brennan Center is committed to giving students as much information as possible to help you exercise your constitutional right to vote. More than ever in recent history, changes to voting laws are being implemented in ways that can affect your ability to make your vote count. In addition to the content you will find in this Student Voting Guide, a report that we issued last year documents a number of these changes and we continue to track passed and pending voting law changes here. While we are working to give you up-to-date information, we urge you to be proactive! In order to ensure you have all the information you need before casting your vote, you should also check with your state and local election officials for information about additional requirements or regulations.
This voting guide was last updated in June 2012.
In Iowa, you can either register at the polling place on Election Day or you can register in advance of the election up until ten days before Election Day. The last day to register in advance of the 2012 general election is October 27, 2012.
Iowa has Election Day registration. To register on Election Day, you have to go the designated polling place for your address, complete a voter registration application, and show proof of your identity and residence.[1] The following forms of photo ID are accepted for Election Day registration: any driver’s license (Iowa or out-of-state); a U.S. passport; a U.S. military ID card; an employee ID card; or a student ID card from an Iowa high school, college or university.[2] The photo ID must be current and valid which means it must contain an expiration date that has not passed.[3] If your ID does not show your current address, you must also show one of the following documents with your current address: residential lease, property tax statement, utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check, or any other government document.[4] Alternatively, you can have another registered voter in the precinct swear to your identity and residency.[5]
You can also register to vote before the election. For primary and general elections, in-person registration closes at 5:00 p.m. ten days before Election Day; for all other elections, in-person registration closes 11 days before Election Day.[6] Registration forms are available to download here. Mail-in registration forms must be received by the relevant deadline or be postmarked at least 15 days before Election Day.[7] All Iowa colleges and universities that receive state funding must offer the opportunity to register to vote on campus at least once a year.[8]
You may register to vote in Iowa beginning six months before your 18th birthday.[9] If you have been convicted of a felony, it may impact your ability to vote. If you think you might be affected, you should contact your local election officials.
Under Iowa law, your voting residence is the place you declare to be your home with the intent to remain there for any amount of time.[10]
At School. Students can establish residency in Iowa if they have a present intention to remain at their Iowa school address for the time being, and they intend to make it their principle home.[11] Any other interpretation of the residency laws is unconstitutional. Iowa law expressly allows students who consider themselves residents of Iowa as well as another place (such as their parent’s home) to choose either their home or school address for voter registration and voting purposes.[12]
At Home. Students who lived in Iowa but moved to another state for school, and who wish to establish or keep their Iowa voting residency (i.e., at their parents’ address), should have no problem doing so unless they have already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, Iowa allows students to keep their voting residency even if they temporarily move out of the county or state to attend school. The only way you will lose this residency is if you “abandon” it by claiming the right to vote in a new state (through registering to vote or voting in another state.[13] If you have claimed the right to vote elsewhere and are moving back to Iowa with the intent to reside here, you will have to follow the normal registration procedures to re-register at home.
Voting in Iowa is a declaration of residency, potentially making you subject to other laws that govern state residents. For example, registering to vote in Iowa creates a presumption that you are a resident for the purposes of the driver’s license law.[14] Iowa residents who drive a car in the state, must get an Iowa driver’s license.
Challenges to Residency. Students have the right to cast a ballot as a resident of Iowa regardless of whether you pay in-state or out-of-state tuition. Your registration may be challenged by another registered voter through a written statement.[15] If this happens, you will notified and given the opportunity to contest the challenge at a hearing, either by submitting proof of your residence or by appearing at the hearing.[16] If the challenge is upheld, you will be able to appeal the decision to court.[17]
Your eligibility to vote can also be challenged at the polls by a poll worker or another registered voter.[18] A precinct official will then question you about your qualifications to vote and you will be able to, but not required to, present evidence (such as ID) that you are qualified to vote.[19] Your declaration of residence is presumed to be valid; you will only be found not to be a resident if a preponderance of evidence contradicts your declaration.[20] If the challenge is withdrawn you will be able to vote a regular ballot.[21] If the challenge is not withdrawn, you will still be able to vote via provisional ballot.[22] You can present additional evidence about your qualifications to county officials until the close of polls.[23]
Remember, any challenge made solely on the basis of your student or tuition status is improper.
At the polls, election officials can request that you show ID if they do not know you, if you are listed as an inactive or pending voter (possibly because the registration officials were unable to verify your registration information),[24] or if your eligibility to vote has been challenged.[25] You will also have to show ID if you register to vote on Election Day.[26] The state also offers an online guide describing who needs to bring ID to the polling place. A full list of acceptable IDs is listed below.
If you are a first time voter who registered by mail, you will have to provide ID at the polls unless you provided your Iowa driver’s license number, Iowa nonoperator’s identification number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number on your registration application, and the state was able to match your number with your records.[27] If the state was unable to match your number to your records, or you did not provide a number on your application, you will have to provide a copy of your ID with your registration application or when you vote–either at the polls or by mail if you vote absentee.[28]
Acceptable ID includes current and valid photo ID, or any of the following documents with your name and address: utility bill (including a cell phone bill), bank statement, paycheck, government check, or other government document.[29] Photo student IDs will be accepted, so long as they display an expiration date showing the ID is current.[30]
If you are asked to show identification and are unable to do so, you will still be able to vote by provisional ballot.[31] This ballot will not be counted unless you provide proper identification to the county after the election.[32]
Any registered voter who expects to be absent from their precinct or unable to go to the polls during the hours the polls are open on Election Day can vote absentee.[33] Applications for absentee ballots sent by mail must be received by county officials by 5:00 p.m. the Friday before the election.[34] Applications are available on the web site of the Iowa Secretary of State. Your absentee ballot must either: A) be received by the election officials before the polls close on Election Day; or B) be postmarked no later than the day before the election and received no later than the Monday morning following the election.[35]
As a convenience to voters, Iowa has early voting which begins no more than 40 days before an election and ends on Election Day.[36] At the commissioner’s office, you can vote any precinct’s ballot for that county. You should check with your county elections office for the exact dates, times, and locations for early voting.
Last Updated in June 2012
[1] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(a) (2012).
[2] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(b) (2012).
[3] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(b) (2012).
[4] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(b) (2012).
[5] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(c) (2012).
[6] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.9(1) (West 2012).
[7] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.9(3) (2012).
[8] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.23(2) (2012).
[9] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.5(c) (2012).
[10] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.5(b) (2012).
[11] See Dunn v. Blumstein, 405 U.S. 330, 330 (1972); Williams v. Salerno, 792 F.2d 323, 328 (2d Cir. 1986).
[12] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.5A(5) (2012); see also Paulson v. Forest City Comm. Schl. Dist., 238 N.W.2d 344, 346–51 (Iowa 1976).
[13] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.5(2)(d) (2012).
[14] Iowa Code Ann. § 321.1A (1)(c) (2012).
[15] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.14 (2012).
[16] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.15 (2012).
[17] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.16 (2012).
[18] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.79(1) (2012).
[19] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.80 (2012).
[20] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.5A(8) (2012).
[21] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.80(2) (2012).
[22] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.80(2) (2012).
[23] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.81 (2012).
[24] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.77(b) (2012).
[25]Election Day FAQ: Do I need to take identification with me to the polls?, Ia Sec’y of State, http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/edfaq.html#3 (last visited June 25, 2012).
[26] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.7A(a) (2012).
[27] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.8(2) (2012).
[28] Iowa Code Ann. § 48A.8(2) (2012).
[29] Iowa Code Ann. §48A.8(2). See also Election Day FAQ: Do I need to take identification with me to the polls?, Ia Sec’y of State, http://sos.iowa.gov/elections/voterinformation/edfaq.html#3 (last visited June 25, 2012).
[30] Email from Mary Mosiman, Deputy of Elections, Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, to Megan Brown, Legal Clinic Student, Brennan Center for Justice (Apr. 3, 2012, 09:29 EST).
[31] See Iowa Code Ann. § 49.81 (2012).
[32] Iowa Code Ann. § 49.81 (2012).
[33] Iowa Code Ann. § 53.1 (2012).
[34] Iowa Code Ann. § 53.2(b) (2012).
[35] Iowa Code Ann. § 53.17(1-2) (2012).
[36] Iowa Code Ann. § 53.10 (2012).
