(Radio Iowa) – If the results in some Iowa races are extremely close, there could be recounts — but they’re not automatic. A candidate has to request one. Under state law, taxpayers will cover the cost of recounts in races where a candidate is ahead by 50 or fewer votes — or is ahead by less than one percent of all votes cast in the race. Candidates can ask for recounts that exceed those parameters, but they’ll have to cover the cost if they aren’t declared the winner after ballots are recounted.

Candidates may request recounts in the three days after results are certified by county supervisors. The initial results are unofficial until that happens. Candidates can ask for recounts in certain precincts or counties — or for all the votes in their race to be recounted.

Three person boards oversee recounts in every county in which there’s a recount request. One member of a recount board is appointed by the candidate asking for the recount and another represents the candidate with the most votes in the initial count. Both candidates have to agree on the third member of the recount board.

(Radio Iowa) – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate’s office reported this morning that over 675,000 Iowans cast ballots during Iowa’s early voting period, which ended Monday night. “The numbers are definitely strong,” Pate said. “They’re up significantly from 2016.”

Early voting soared in 2020 during the first year of the pandemic and 2016 is the latest comparable presidential election year. “That’s to me a good indicator that there’s a lot of strong interest from the voters,” Pate said, “and they’re making sure their voice gets heard.”

The latest data shows Republicans had a statewide edge over Democrats in early voting of about 11,000 ballots, but in Iowa’s first, second and third congressional districts, Democrats outnumbered Republicans in early voting.

(Radio Iowa file photo)

Pate, who spoke with Radio Iowa shortly after noon, indicated turn-out today at precincts around the state had been strong. “It does appear that we’re going to have a pretty heavy voter turnout,” Pate said. “I don’t know if it will be a record, but I think it will definitely be one that the candidates have demonstrated they’ve put a lot of effort into.”

The biggest issue for voters today may be long lines. “We’ve had a few glitches here and there, but they’re all being resolved. The auditors have been pretty quick to get on top of it right away,” Pate said. “We just remind people we use paper ballots, so no matter what, the ballots are there.”

KCCI TV is reporting Story County election officials are having issues with the machines used to tabulate paper ballots in some precincts in the county. Voters in those Story County polling locations are being asked to leave their ballots in a secure box and election observers from both political parties will watch as those ballots are tabulated later.

(Glenwood, Iowa) – Mills County Auditor Ami Petersen, today (Tuesday) reports “Due to technical difficulties, the voter check-in-tablets were not able to print out a Declaration of Eligibility form. Poll workers were doing paper Eligibility forms instead.

“This in no way affected the ability to vote or the ability to verify if a customer is eligible to vote” Petersen said. The situation was fixed within an hour, according to the Mills County Auditor, who said “Due to not being connected to the internet it did require driving time between precincts for the update to happen.

Ami Petersen said “We are always prepared for this contingency and all polling places have the proper forms and training to complete this process.”

(Granville, Iowa) – Sheriff’s officials in northwest Iowa report 20 people were injured during a collision this (Tuesday) morning, near Granville. Sioux County Sheriff’s deputies responded to the collision three-miles north of Granville at around at 7:42 a.m. The crash occurred at the intersection of 430th Street and Marsh Avenue. Authorities say 23-year-old Elliot Dykstra, of Alton, Iowa, was driving a 2015 Ford F-150 eastbound on 430th Street. 76-year-old John Kooiman, of Orange City, was driving a 2022 Thomas school bus for the Unity Christian High School, southbound on Marsh Avenue. The vehicles collided in the intersection.

Dykstra was transported to Sanford Sheldon Medical Center for treatment of critical injuries. Kooiman and 18 students were transported to the Orange City Area Health System for treatment of various injuries ranging from minor to serious with the exception of one student who was transferred to Sanford Medical and one currently under further observation. Incident Command was activated at Orange City Area Health System to coordinate care and communication between responding emergency services and the involved schools. The sheriff’s office was able, in conjunction with Unity Christian High School and Orange City Christian School, to notify all parents to direct them to go to Orange City Area Health System to be successfully connected with their child.

The crash remains under investigation by the Sioux County Sheriff’s Office and the Iowa State Patrol. Assisting emergency response was from the Orange City Police Department, Fire Departments from Hospers and Granville; ambulance services from Alton, Granville, Hospers, Orange City and Sheldon.

Atlantic, IA – The November session of Healthy U will focus on MyChart, presented by Cass Health Chief Information Officer Mitch Whiley, with other staff on hand to help with any MyChart related questions. The session will be held Thursday, November 21 at noon in Conference Room 2.

MyChart is a secure online tool that allows patients to manage their health information and communicate with their healthcare providers. During the presentation, Whiley will show patients how to navigate within MyChart to access information like visit summaries, test results, medications, and immunizations. Attendees will also learn how to access their billing summaries, how to use E-Check In, and how to manage proxy access to their MyChart account for family or caregivers.

Space is limited! A free boxed lunch is provided for all attendees, so reservations are required. Call 712-243-7479 to reserve your seat. For more information about Healthy U, visit casshealth.org/healthyu.

(Radio Iowa) – At least 675-thousand Iowans cast ballots BEFORE Election Day. Data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s website shows Republicans with a STATEWIDE edge over Democrats in early voting, but Democrats outnumbered Republicans casting absentee ballots in the first, second and third congressional districts. Nearly one-point-seven MILLION Iowans were active registered voters on Friday, November 1st.

The data suggests around 40 percent of them had already voted when precincts opened this (Tuesday) morning for Election Day voting.

(Radio Iowa) – Election Day is supposed to be about exercising the right to vote, but fears of violence are prompting many communities coast-to-coast to take significant security precautions, including fortifying parts of the nation’s capital. U-S Senator Chuck Grassley, who’s in Iowa today (Tuesday), says he’s seeing on T-V how there’s heavy armed security behind barricades, and 8-foot-high metal fences around multiple Washington D-C buildings, including the White House, prepping for civil unrest.

“I hope it doesn’t happen and never happens again in the future,” Grassley says. “I think that it’s a precaution that is only being taken because we’re in a different environment today, and hopefully this protection that’s being taken isn’t needed.” Governors in Oregon, Nevada and Washington state have activated the National Guard to have troops on standby through Thursday after the fire-bombing of ballot boxes in recent weeks.  “I assume that when businesses are boarding up, they think there can be potential violence, like there was in Minneapolis at the George Floyd murder, things like that,” Grassley says, “but let’s just hope that doesn’t happen, but it could happen.”

In many areas, Grassley says there have been threats of violence against poll workers. “That’s a recent occurrence in our election process, and I hope it doesn’t happen today, and I hope it never happens in future elections,” he says, “because these workers at the polling places, their hard work facilitates a smooth election day for everyone exercising their right to vote.”

A-B-C reports the F-B-I has logged more than two-thousand threats to election workers since April with more than 20 people charged.