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Absentee ballot requests skyrocket as midterm election approaches

Election day is less than two months away, but an increasing number of people are requesting a ballot before that day, by voting absentee. According to figures ...

Election day is less than two months away, but an increasing number of people are requesting a ballot before that day, by voting absentee.

According to figures from the Iowa Secretary of State, 112,178 requests for absentee ballots have already been filed for the 2014 midterm election. In 2010, there were 56,725 total requests.

Of the 112,178 requests this year, 57,869 are Democrat requests and 31,099 are Republican.

"So, obviously, all the campaigns are out doing due diligence to make sure that they get all their votes in as soon as possible by getting people to do absentee requests," said Roxanna Moritz, Scott County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections.

The Scott County Auditor's Office had already received 9,000 requests for ballots. Four years ago, on September 22, 2010, they were at 3,600 applications.

"People really understand early voting and the process of being able to sit in your own home, maybe take time to look at a candidate, look them up on the website, see who they are, what their issues are and then doing your due diligence before you actually vote," said Moritz.

The numbers for absentee ballot requests have also been high in Rock Island County.

"We expect around 4,000 to vote by mail and we have around 1,200 applications on hand already," said John Brown, Chief Deputy County Clerk for Rock Island County.

Early in-person voting starts Thursday, September 25 in Iowa and in person absentee voting in Rock Island County starts October 8, 2014.

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Absentee ballot requests skyrocket as midterm election approaches

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