Voting has begun in January 18 special election

A special election will be held Tuesday, January 18 to fill a vacancy in the state senate created when Senator Larry Noble resigned to become Governor-elect Terry Branstad’s public safety commissioner.  Election officials say early voting starts…now!

IOWA SENATE DISTRICT 35 EARLY VOTING BEGINS

(Des Moines) Polk County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections Jamie Fitzgerald today announced that early voting for the 2011 Special Election to fill the Senate District 35 vacancy began today.

“We wanted to make sure that we maximized the voters’ ability to make their voices heard in this election and allow the most time possible to cast early ballots.” Fitzgerald said. “Our election office will also be open for voting on Saturday and Monday despite the rest of the county offices being closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.”

Normally, there is much more time between the candidate filing deadline and the special election, but Iowa Code dictates that due to the closeness of the start of the 2011 Legislative Session that the election shall be held as soon as practically possible shortening the election timelines and filing deadlines. The deadline to place a candidate’s name on the ballot ended at 5:00 PM last night.

Office hours on Saturday, January 15, 2011 are from 9:00 AM until 5:00 PM and on Monday, January 17, 2011 from 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM. The Polk County Election Office is located at 120 2nd Avenue, just ½ block south of Court Avenue in Downtown Des Moines.

Senate District 35 includes thirty precincts in Polk County including the cities of Ankeny, Johnston, Grimes, Polk City and several rural precincts.

Current voter registration numbers for Senate District 35 show 17,841 registered Democrats; 23,151 registered Republicans, 18,815 registered with no party affiliation and another 81 registered Green and Libertarian party members.