(Radio Iowa) – It’s been a week since Iowans were able to start voting early and many counties are reporting heavy turnout. Over 112-thousand Iowans had cast ballots through the first five days of early voting and Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley is among them. “I presume that Democrats are having heavy numbers because they traditionally do,” Grassley says, “and then the additional record-breaking numbers, I think, come from Republicans realizing that we’re losing the game on early voting, and Republicans better vote early.”

Top Republicans in the state, like Governor Kim Reynolds, cast their ballots last Wednesday, on the first day Iowans could vote at their county auditor’s office or other designated locations. The Grassley family did as well. “Barbara Grassley and I, and Wendy Speckerman — my daughter, and her husband, and a couple other people in my family have followed my advice and voted early,” Grassley says. “Barbara and I opened up the Butler County Courthouse at 7:30 last Wednesday to cast our first votes.”

Grassley predicts when the numbers are all tabulated next month, we’ll see that Iowa voters from -both- parties are embracing the convenience of early voting. “I think Republicans are finally waking up to the fact that sometimes we have lost an election before Election Day,” Grassley says. “So you’ve got to learn from your mistakes, and our mistakes are that we haven’t been encouraging early voting, and we’re doing that now.”

Democrats have been urging Iowans for months to have a plan to vote. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart was a congressional candidate in 2020 — and lost by just six votes. “The worst thing that can happen, which happened to me, is to have people come to you the day after the election and say: ‘Oh, Rita. I totally forgot to vote. I’m really sorry. I thought you had this in the bag.’ That is really horrible to hear,” Hart said. “…That’s why I want every vote to understand that their vote really counts.”

Between July and October, there was a three-point-four percent increase in the number of registered Democrats in Iowa. Hart says it’s unclear if those are brand new voters or Iowans who’ve switched their party registration. “Not everybody changes their voter registration when they have changed their mind on who they’re going to vote for, right?” Hart asks. “So when this election is over, we’ll be able to go back and look at where the movement is and who we’re talking about.”

Hart made her comments during a recent appearance on Iowa P-B-S. October 16th was the first day Iowans could vote in-person at their county auditor’s office, the same day those offices started sending out absentee ballots. Iowans who are voting by mail can track their ballot online at www.voterready.iowa.gov.