RIDE TO THE POLLS
The Plymouth County Democrats are offering a free ride to Plymouth County voters today for early voting, and tomorrow, on election day.
Early voting can be done at the Plymouth County Auditor’s Office today until 5 pm. Voters who received an absentee ballot can walk their ballot in to the auditor’s office today, or tomorrow. Do Not bring your absentee ballot to your polling place on election day.
To request a ride, call 712-541-3620. Rides are available to all eligible voters, regardless of party affiliation.
BOND ISSUES HIGHLIGHT PLYMOUTH COUNTY ELECTIONS
Voters in two Plymouth County School Districts will decide bond issues on election day. In the Le Mars Community School District, voters are asked to approve a nearly 50 million dollar bond issue. This will help build a new k-5 school across the street from the middle school/high school complex. The single school will replace three aging elementary schools, two of which were built in the 1930s. The total cost of the elementary school project is 67.6 million dollars. The remaining funds for the project, nearly 17 million dollars, will be raised through the district’s SAVE fund, a statewide local option sales tax.
The Hinton Community School District will decide on authorization of an 11.9 million dollars general obligation bond issue for school improvements. These include HVAC, electrical, mechanical, and ADA compliance improvements in the school buildings. There are also additional classrooms, new roofing and windows, and asbestos removal in the project.
Both bond issues require a 60 percent majority in order to pass.
JUDGE SIDES WITH IOWA OFFICIALS IN DISPUTE OVER POTENTIAL NON-CITIZENS ON VOTER ROLLS
A federal judge has rejected a bid to block Secretary of State Paul Pate’s order that election workers check the citizenship status of over two-thousand people who’ve registered to vote in Iowa. The judge said it appears about 12 percent of people on Pate’s list aren’t U-S citizens and it would be inappropriate to force election officials to let ineligible voters cast ballots. Pate says the ruling is a win for election integrity. The ACLU of Iowa sued the state last week on behalf of four naturalized U-S citizens. The group’s legal counsel says they’re still concerned some Iowans who have become citizens in the past several years will not be able to vote, but they’re glad Pate has now agreed that people on the list may present their naturalization papers at a polling place and cast a regular ballot.
NOVEMBER 1 VOTER REGISTRATION DATA HAS BEEN RELEASED
Nearly 80-thousand Iowans have become active registered voters in the past month. As of Friday, Republicans have a 173-thousand voter registration edge over Democrats in Iowa, a slight increase from October 1st. The number of independent voters in Iowa grew by 25-thousand over the past month — with half a million Iowans registered as independent or “no party” voters. The latest data from county auditors and the Iowa Secretary of State’s office shows Republicans outnumber Democrats in each of Iowa’s four congressional districts. As of Thursday night, over 556-thousand Iowans had already voted by mail or in person at an early voting site in their county.
PARTIES POINT TO DIFFERENT METRICS AS 2024 ELECTION WINDS DOWN
Iowa’s two major political parties are emphasizing different metrics as Election Day draws near. A new “Iowa Poll” found Democrat Kamala Harris with a narrow lead over Donald Trump — and by Friday night, Republicans had an early voting edge over Democrats of about one-and-a-half percent. It’s the first time since 2014 that Republicans have been ahead in early voting. On Saturday night, Democrats began citing the Des Moines Register’s latest “Iowa Poll.” It found Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump by three points among Iowans who intend to vote or have already cast an early vote. Iowa Democratic Party chair Rita Hart says it’s an exciting development, but Hart says what matters is the final tally of votes.
WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NOVEMBER SHOWS MIXED SIGNALS
State Climatologist Justin Glisan (like listen), says forecasters are seeing a mixed bag of weather ahead in November and into the winter when it comes to the temperature and potential snowfall.
After a record dry September and below average rain in October, Glisan says things could turn around a bit.
Glisan says any rain we get could help replenish groundwater deficits
Glisan says they are waiting on the formation of the La Nina weather pattern to see what happens.
The projection right now is slightly more snowfall, four to six inches above our normal average for the state.
