Early voting is now underway in all three Siouxland states. In Iowa, some counties have satellite locations set up where people can vote in-person for a day or more, as another option beyond mailing in an early absentee ballot.
In Woodbury County, for the last many years there has been early voting at the Woodbury County Courthouse and also the Long Lines Family Rec Center in Sioux City.
This year, one of the satellite voting locations was set up on October 22 and 23 at the Western Iowa Tech Community College in Sioux City. There were other satellite voting sites on October 21 at Briar Cliff University, plus another one at Morningside University on October 24.
At the community college, a county election official said 70 people had voted in the first two hours, and then a total of 180 votes had been cast by the end of the day. Three people spoke about their voting after they were done.
One of them, Marisol Ponce lives in Sioux City and is 27, and said she was voting for the first time in her life. Ponce said she has one child and another on the way, and wanted to be a voice for them. She said it is very important that women retain control of their bodies.
Another Sioux City resident, James Zuercher, age 56, said he enjoys early voting, which he has done for about a dozen years. Zuercher said early voting is becoming well accepted, and this year his 88-year-old mother in South Dakota plans to do it.
"I like to do it and have it done," Zuercher said. "I think it is pretty easy."
Zuercher also said he has no qualms about voting security via the early balloting process.
"I trust the process. I think we should do more to let everybody vote... The more important thing is to hear from everybody," he said.
A third person who spoke about the early satellite voting option at Western Iowa Tech Community College was Sarah Kracke, of Sioux City. She was casting her ballot with her husband, as the number of people voting picked up. Kracke said people can be busy on Election Days with family and other tasks, so she prefers voting early.
"Only one time have I not voted early — because I have kids, it just makes it easier," she said.
Early voting continues in all three Siouxland states, with mail-in available to everyone who wants to, plus some counties have satellite voting sites open for a day or more.
All Siouxland and national races will be decided on Election Day on November 5.
