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How to vote in Iowa's 2025 city and school board election

Voters cast their ballot in Des Moines on Election Day 2024.
Madeleine Charis King
/
Iowa Public Radio
Voters will have a chance to elect city council and school board members during the 2025 election on Nov. 4.

Tuesday, Nov. 4, is Election Day, the final day for Iowans to vote in the 2025 election.

Voters will have a chance to elect city council and school board members, and weigh in on local initiatives like school bonds.

Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday for in-person voting. The deadline for returning an absentee ballot is also on Tuesday. Iowans who have not yet registered to vote can register at their polling place on Election Day.

If you’re voting on Election Day, look up your polling place here.

Here’s what you need to know to vote in Iowa:

Bring an ID

These are the accepted IDs:

  • Iowa Driver’s License
  • Iowa Non-Operator ID
  • Iowa Voter Identification Card
  • Military ID or Veteran ID
  • U.S. Passport
  • Tribal ID Card/Document

If you don’t have any of these forms of ID, you can bring Election Day registration documents or have another voter registered in the precinct attest to your identity. If you don’t have any of those with you, poll workers should offer you a provisional ballot. You can vote the provisional ballot, and if you return to the county election office with proper ID in the days following Election Day, your vote will get counted.

Iowans can also register to vote at their polling place on Election Day. If you need to register or if you have moved recently and your ID doesn’t have your current address on it, be prepared to show proof of residence.

If you received an absentee ballot but haven’t returned it:

Iowa now requires absentee ballots to be received by a voter’s county auditor by 8 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. Complete your ballot, sign and seal the envelope, and bring it to your county auditor's office or county election office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. It is too late to return your ballot through the mail.

Or, you can vote in person on Election Day. Bring your ballot to your polling place and surrender it to the poll workers before you vote.

If you mailed your absentee ballot but you're not sure if it was received:

Check the state's absentee ballot tracker to see the date it was received by your county auditor.

If you got an absentee ballot, but it hasn’t been received by the auditor or you lost it:

Vote in person on Election Day. You’ll be asked to vote a provisional ballot as a safeguard against double voting. It will be counted in the week after Election Day as long as the election office doesn’t receive your voted absentee ballot in the mail.

The Secretary of State's Office has also compiled Iowa voting information at voterready.iowa.gov.

Katarina Sostaric is IPR's State Government Reporter, with expertise in state government and agencies, state officials and how public policy affects Iowans' lives. She's covered Iowa's annual legislative sessions, the closure of state agencies, and policy impacts on family planning services and access, among other topics, for IPR, NPR and other public media organizations. Sostaric is a graduate of the University of Missouri.