Early voting in Iowa is breaking records with absentee ballots still being accepted for several more days before the November 3 presidential election.

With absentee voting proving to be a popular and safer option in 2020, the early turnout is said to have already surpassed the total number of absentee ballots received in the 2012 election. In that election year, a total of 689,661 absentee ballots set an Iowa record. That record has now been crushed with more early voting expected in the coming days.

Iowa's News Now reports that as of Friday October 23, over 708,000 ballots have already been collected by the state auditors, according to the Iowa Secretary of State's office.

To help election officials get a head start on the counting, auditors will be allowed to begin processing the large amount of absentee ballots a few day earlier than usual.

Mail-in ballots must be postmarked by Nov. 2 and arrive by Nov. 9 in order to count according to Iowa's News Now.

Iowa voters can also cast ballots at their auditors’ offices or at one of the satellite voting locations up until Saturday October 31.

The state also permits same-day voter registration on Election Day. If you hope to take advantage of this, you should expect to bring along ID. Whether you need it or not is debatable, polling places are staffed with trained volunteers and workers. But common sense says it would be beneficial to provide such information to help insure your vote will be counted.

And remember, it's a long day for those poll workers, as polling places will be open for 14 hours. So be kind to your fellow citizens. Thanks for voting and thanks for masking, too.

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