IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — The Iowa Supreme Court is being urged by Democrats and a Latino civil rights group to block a new Republican-backed law that could leave thousands of requesters without absentee ballots. Majority Forward, a group aligned with Senate Democrats, and the League of Latino United Citizens have asked the high court to put the new law on hold immediately.

They’re appealing a ruling released Monday in Johnson County, where Judge Lars Anderson declined to block the new law. Anderson found the law would likely survive judicial review, claiming that requests for absentee ballots do not implicate the fundamental right to vote.

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (AP) — Police in Cedar Rapids continue to investigate the death of a woman whose body was found along an interstate highway. KCRG-TV reports that authorities on Thursday identified the victim as 61-year-old Neva Jean Rhyne, of Indianapolis. Also Thursday, her 2005 Buick LeSabre was located. But what happened to her remains a mystery. Rhyne’s body was found along Interstate 380 Monday. Anyone with information is urged to contact Cedar Rapids police.

Cass County Auditor Dale Sunderman reports the Cass County courthouse will be open for early voting beginning on Monday, October 5th through Monday, November 2nd for all Cass County precincts. The Election room is the County Auditor’s Office which is located on the first floor.  Regular courthouse hours are 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Sunderman says since ballots requested by mail will also be mailed on October 5th, mailed ballots will not have been received by the day that in-person voting begins.  Since the voter’s record will reflect that a ballot has been requested and mailed, voters who have requested ballots by mail are strongly encouraged to wait for their ballots to arrive rather than attempting to vote in person.

Once the voters have received and completed their ballots, the ballots may be mailed; or the ballots may be hand delivered to the Cass County Auditor’s office by the voter or by any person they select.  Ballots are to be delivered to the office of the Cass County Auditor.  Cass County does not have a ‘drop box’ for ballots or election materials.

With social distancing recommended and with full trust in the United States Postal System, Auditor Sunderman encourages all Cass County voters to take advantage of the right to vote early by mail for the 2020 General Election on November 3, 2020.  Several organizations have mailed official applications for an absentee ballot to Iowa voters and nearly 2,000 Cass County voters have already filed an application.  Only one of those application forms needs to be sent to the County Auditor; all additional forms may be discarded or recycled.

The last day to file an absentee ballot request form with the County Auditor and for him to mail you the ballot is October 24th.  Auditor recommends requests be filed as soon as possible. If a voter still needs a request form, absentee ballot request forms are available on the website of the Iowa Secretary of State (https://sos.iowa.gov/elections/electioninfo/absenteeinfo.html); or you may contact the Cass County Auditor and have a form mailed or emailed to you.  Phone: 712-243-4570 or Email: auditor@casscoia.us.

VOTING IN VOTER’S VEHICLE:

In accordance with Chapter 49.53 of the Iowa Code, any voter who is physically unable to enter the polling place, including the Cass County Auditor’s office, has the right to vote in the voter’s vehicle.

REGISTRATION / IDENTIFICATION:

All voters are required to be registered in Cass County in order to vote in Cass County.  All voters are required to provide an approved form of identification at the polling place before receiving and casting a ballot.  Voters may register and vote on the same day.  Persons registering and voting on the same day after October 24 will also be required to provide proof of residence.

(Radio Iowa) – Plymouth County authorities have released the name of a person who died in a two-car crash near Remsen on Wednesday afternoon.  Killed during that accident was 68-year-old Israel Verastegui of Worthington, Minnesota. Verastegui was traveling north on Highway 140 in a 2003 Dodge Intrepid, when he failed to yield to the Highway 3 traffic. 34-year old Jose Everado Cutino Ramirez, also of Worthington, Minnesota, a passenger in the car, suffered minor injuries.

The other vehicle was a 2000 Chevy Venture driven by 69-year-old Jerry Ashenfelter of Le Mars. The van was traveling east on Highway 3 when the collision occurred. Ashenfelter suffered minor injuries during the crash. Both vehicles were a total loss.

The Creston Police Department reports 29-year old Quinton Lee Kimball, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday evening, for Harassment in the 3rd Degree. Kimball posted bond and was released from the Union County Jail. And, Regency Park in Creston reported to the police department on Sept. 20th, their maintenance building had been broken into. The damage was estimated at $200.

DUBUQUE, Iowa (AP) — A push has begun in Dubuque to change the name of a park to honor of a one-time slave who gained his freedom and another Black man killed in a lynching. The Dubuque Telegraph Herald reports that the Dubuque branch of the NAACP and other community members support renaming Jackson Park after both men, Ralph Montgomery and Nathaniel Morgan.

Montgomery was a slave living in Dubuque when, in 1839, he won his freedom in a ruling by the Iowa Supreme Court. It was only a year later that Morgan was killed in a lynching. The park is currently named for President Andrew Jackson.