Absentee Voting in a Health Care Facility

October 16, 2024

Guest Column by Whitney Hein, Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections

Absentee Voting in a Health Care Facility

Most do not realize that residents, tenants, or patients of health care facilities, dementia specific assisted living programs, and hospitals are subject to a different set of absentee voting laws when compared to voters who do not reside at these types of facilities.  Understanding what constitutes a health care facility is the first step in the process. To find out what facilities within a county qualify under this law, the entity must be registered with the Iowa Department of Inspections and Appeals and fall under a certain set of entity types. These entity types include assisted living programs for people with dementia, hospitals, nursing facilities including skilled nursing facilities, intermediate care facilities, and residential care facilities. In Jones County, the qualifying facilities are Anamosa Care Center, Jones Regional Medical Center, Monticello Nursing & Rehab Center, and Pinicon Senior Living.

The Auditor’s office works with these facilities so that the staff is educated on the special absentee voting process and to ensure that staff have access to request forms and voter registration forms if a resident or tenant does want to register to vote or apply for an absentee ballot. It is important to note that all eligible citizens are allowed to make their own decision on whether or not they would like to vote. Power of attorney authority does not apply to voting and a power of attorney cannot sign a voter form on behalf of a voter. A judge is the only person who can deem an individual incompetent to vote.

When the Auditor’s office receives a request for an absentee ballot from an individual who resides in one of the above referenced health care facilities, the Auditor’s office must schedule a time within 14 days of election day to send a bi-partisan team (one republican poll worker and one democratic poll worker) to that facility to deliver the voter’s ballot. The bi-partisan team must be present while the voter votes the ballot and seals it in the absentee envelope. After the ballot is voted, the bi-partisan team will return the ballot to the Auditor’s office. The voter may request assistance in marking the ballot. The bi-partisan team can assist if the voter chooses, or they may ask someone else to help including but not limited to a spouse or child.

If a Jones County voter resides in a facility outside of the county, the law does provide for an absentee ballot to be mailed to them at that facility. The bi-partisan team does not travel outside of the county. If a Jones County voter is admitted to an out-of-county facility after 5:00 p.m. 15 days before election day, the voter may designate anyone (except a candidate on the ballot), to deliver and return the ballot. The is the only time someone other than the bi-partisan team or the United States Postal Service is allowed to deliver a ballot to an absentee voter. However, the ballot still must be returned to the Auditor’s office by 8:00 p.m. on election day.

If you or a loved one is a current resident or becomes a resident of a health care facility prior to election day and would like to vote, the best way to find out options for voting is by calling the Jones County Auditor’s office at 319-462-2282. The options for voting can get confusing especially if the voter is admitted to one of these facilities after 5:00pm 15 days before election day.