Tuesday, Nov. 3 is Election Day, the final day for Iowans to vote in the 2026 midterm elections.
It is too late to return your ballot through the mail, they need to be turned into your county auditor's office or county election office in-person.
Iowans will vote for governor, a U.S. Senate seat and Iowa’s members of the U.S. House of Representatives. A constitutional amendment, candidates for the Iowa Legislature, county officials and judges up for retention are also on the ballot.
Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday for in-person voting. If voting an absentee ballot, you must return your ballot to your county auditor’s office or county election office by 8 p.m. If you haven’t registered to vote yet, you can register on Election Day at your polling place.
If you’re voting on Election Day, look up your polling place here. You can check who is on your ballot here.
If you mailed in your ballot, you can track your ballot 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.
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 be counted.
Voters can no longer have another voter registered in their precinct attest to their identity for the voter ID requirement if they don’t have the necessary forms of ID or documents.
Voters can still use an attester for registration purposes.
Iowans can 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.
What to do if you haven't sent your absentee ballot, or it hasn't been received
You filled out your absentee ballot and want to return it in-person
Before and on Election Day, you can hand deliver the ballot to your county auditor's office or county election office. You must return your ballot to your county auditor’s office or county election office by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when polls close. You can find your county auditor’s office or county election office here.
If you're unable to drop off your ballot in-person, you can designate an immediate family member, another member of your household or, if you have a disability, another designated person, to return your ballot.
You cannot return your filled out ballot to polling places on Election Day.
You have your absentee ballot, but want to vote in-person on Election Day instead
Bring in and surrender your absentee ballot at your polling place on Election Day and you can vote a regular ballot instead.
You mailed in your ballot but it's not showing up on the ballot tracker
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.
If you have concerns about your ballot being received, you can contact your county auditor. The secretary of state's office has also compiled Iowa voting information at voterready.iowa.gov.
