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10,000's Of Iowans Voting Early

Keokuk, IA – Tens of thousands of Iowa residents have already taken advantage of early voting opportunities this year. With one week to go before the November 7th election, more than 200,000 absentee ballots have been requested in Iowa. The Secretary of State's office says roughly 2/3 of those have already been turned back in. Auditor Anne Pedersen says her office has been very busy as nearly 15% of Lee County's registered voters want to cast an absentee or early ballot. She says her last report, though, shows the number of requests is down by more than 1000, compared to the election four years ago. Pedersen says the drop could be atributed to the fact that there was also a US Senate race in 2002. While early voting has taken place in Iowa for years, the concept is new to Illinois, though it appears to be gaining in popularity. In McDonough County, roughly 500 residents have already cast an early ballot, with many more trying to beat the early voting deadline of Thursday. Pedersen says absentee ballot requests can still be made until Friday evening and early votes can be cast through November 6.