2026 Candidate List

Contact your county auditor for information on county candidates.

2026 Primary Election Candidate's Guide
 

Partisan Offices on the 2026 Primary Election Ballot

U.S. OFFICES

• U.S. Senator
• U.S. Representative (all districts)

STATE OFFICES

• Governor/Lt. Governor
• Secretary of State
• Auditor of State
• Treasurer of State
• Secretary of Agriculture
• Attorney General
• State Senator (odd-numbered districts 1-49)
• State Representative (districts 1-100)

COUNTY OFFICES

• Some seats of County Boards of Supervisors
• County Treasurer
• County Recorder
• County Attorney
• Any vacant county offices

For more information, visit: sos.iowa.gov/primary-election

Register to Vote

NOTE: As a college student, you may choose to register to vote at your home address - OR - at your college address. You cannot register to vote at both.

How to Register

To pre-register to vote, complete a voter registration form and return it to your county auditor’s office.

The form must be signed. If you are not physically able to sign the form, use a rubber stamp or a mark you use regularly. You may ask someone to sign your name for you as long as the person is with you when signing the form and does so at your request.

Your county auditor will send you a voter registration card within two weeks.

Pre-Registration Deadlines

15 days before the election in which you wish to vote (May 18 for the 2026 Iowa Primary Election)

General Registration

You can register to vote online by visiting the Iowa Department of Transportation website (you will need to have your driver's license or non-operator ID available). Or you can print the paper form and mail into your County Auditor.

Registration on Election Day

You may register and vote on election day. To do so, you first must go to the correct polling place for your current address on election day. If you are unsure of your polling place, Find Your Precinct/Polling Place.

At the polling place, you must prove both who you are and where you live. The best way to do this is with your valid Iowa driver’s license with your current address printed on it.

REMINDER: As a college student, you may choose to register to vote at your home address - OR - at your college address. You cannot register to vote at both.
 

Absentee Voting

How to Request an Absentee Ballot

To vote by absentee ballot in Iowa, a registered voter may make written application to their County Auditor for an absentee ballot. A written application for a mailed absentee ballot must be received by the voter's County Auditor no later than 5 p.m., 15 days before the election.

In order to receive an absentee ballot, a registered voter MUST provide the following necessary information:

• Name
• Date of birth
• Iowa residential address
• Voter Verification Number (ID Number)
  • Iowa Driver's License or Non-Operator ID Number OR
  • Four digit Voter PIN located on the voter's Iowa Voter ID Card
  • Any voter may request an Iowa Voter ID Card by contacting their County Auditor's Office
• The name OR date of the election for which you are requesting an absentee ballot
• Party affiliation - only required for Primary Elections, which are held in even numbered years
• Signature and date the form was completed

All voters are encouraged to provide their phone number and/or email address in the event their County Auditor needs to confirm any information on the request form.

Returning your absentee ballot

Mark your ballot, and then follow the instructions included with your ballot to return it in the postage-paid return envelope. It is vital that you utilize the return envelope supplied by the county auditor.

You can:

• Mail your ballot so that is received before 8 p.m. CT on Election Day
• Hand deliver your ballot to your county auditor during business hours or any time up until 8 p.m. CT on Election Day.
• You may designate someone to return your ballot under one of following circumstances:

1. The designee is an immediate family member.
2. The designee is a member of your household.
3. You are disabled and you have designed someone to return your ballot.

Directions and rules for designating someone to return your ballot are included in the official instructions included with your mailed ballot.

• Surrender your absentee ballot at your precinct polling place on Election Day and vote a regular ballot
• Vote a provisional ballot at the polls on Election Day if you cannot surrender your voted absentee ballot.

Voted absentee ballots cannot be delivered to the polling place on Election Day - only to your county auditor's office.

For more information, visit sos.iowa.gov/voters/absentee-voting.

* Source: sos.iowa.gov