(Iowa Capital Dispatch) – With one week left until the Nov. 5 election, the Iowa Secretary of State’s office reported that more than 400,000 ballots have been received in the 2024 general election. In addition to the total 401,760 absentee ballots received as of Monday morning, 483,806 total ballots have been issued since the early and absentee voting period began Oct. 16. In that group, 82,046 ballots have been issued by state election officials that voters have yet to return.

Though the absentee voter participation is higher this year a week out from the election than in 2022, when 238,979 absentee ballots had been received by Iowa election officials a week prior to the midterms, the pace of early and absentee voting in the state is behind the previous two presidential election cycles. In 2016, 472,085 absentee ballots had been received a week before the election.

There’s a much larger gap between this year’s voting figures and 2020, when the state reported that 783,310 ballots were received by Oct. 27, a week prior to the election. However, more people voted absentee in 2020 than in typical election cycles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate sent out absentee ballot request forms to voters statewide in the previous presidential election cycle, an action which is no longer allowed under state law. Iowans must now submit the request form to their local county auditor to receive an absentee ballot, or vote early in person at the county auditor’s office or a satellite voting location.

Nearly 46 million Americans have cast early votes in the 2024 election as of Monday according to the University of Florida’s election lab, with more than 23 million voting early in person and another 22 million returning their mail-in ballots. Democrats comprised 39.9% of the early votes cast, data from states that report party affiliations found, while 36.1% were registered Democrats and 24.1% voters were registered as third-party or with no affiliation.

Democrats are also slightly ahead of Republicans in Iowa absentee ballots received. A total of 167,734 ballots from registered Democrats had been received by elections officials as of Monday morning while 156,463 registered Republicans had returned their ballots across the state’s four congressional districts. Another 74,558 voters who have no party affiliation had early voted, as had 1,730 registered Libertarians and 275 voters registered as an “other” party.

The two U.S. House districts where races are marked as most competitive in the state are where Democrats have pulled ahead in early voting. In the 1st Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks faces Democrat Christian Bohannan. In the 3rd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Zach Nunn faces Democrat Lanon Baccam. In the 3rd District, more than 9,000 more ballots have been returned by registered Democrats than from Republicans, and the gap grows above 11,000 for the 1st District. Democrats are ahead by a roughly 5,000-ballot margin in the 2nd Congressional District, where U.S. Republican Rep. Ashley Hinson faces Democratic challenger Sarah Corkery.

Republicans only outpace Democrats in early voting in Iowa’s 4th Congressional District, long considered the state’s GOP stronghold. Registered Republicans have a 15,431 early vote advantage on Democrats in the northwest Iowa district, where Democrat Ryan Melton challenges U.S. Rep. Randy Feenstra to a rematch.

The deadline has passed for Iowans to request an absentee ballot from their local county auditor. However, people who have received their absentee ballots in the mail still have time to return them. To be counted, ballots must be received by the county auditor’s office by the time polls close at 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.

In-person early voting is also still available through Nov. 4 in the state. Interested voters can head to their county auditor’s office to cast their ballot, or visit satellite polling locations as designated by the county auditor. These addresses are available on local county auditors’ websites, and can be found through the Secretary of State’s website.