The ballots for the Nov. 5 general election have been finalized by the Marshall County Auditor’s office, and it is lengthier than usual. Residents can go online at elections.marshallcountyia.gov to view what they will be voting on.

“We just got them done to send them to new military voters,” Auditor/Recorder Nan Benson said. “We had to get it all out by Friday.”

Due to the various issues and candidates people will decide on, Benson said they are producing 51 different styles of the ballot for the specific districts. She hopes samples of those will be available for viewing sometime Tuesday, and urged residents to keep an eye on the website to see what ballots they will receive.

One of the reasons for the large number of items on the ballot is the state determined bonds would be voted on during general elections. That change went into effect in July 2023. Marshall County voters will approve or disapprove of LOST money for the county and various school bonds, depending on which district they reside in.

There are a lot of different rules and guidelines auditors now have to follow, and Benson said many of those changes occurred within the last two years.

“It means there is a lot more work on the general election,” she said.

Benson will be conversing with Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips to determine security protocols for the November election. Normally, law enforcement escorts the secured results to the auditor’s office for counting.

She hopes a previous incident will be taken into consideration so results are released sooner rather than later. According to Benson, on a prior Election Day, a sheriff was bringing results to her when a car accident happened.

“That held up getting the results back,” she said. “No one was hurt, but it slowed us up. [Law enforcement] provides security for the ballots, but then if something bad happens, they have to take care of it. That’s their job.”

Getting the Marshall County results to the Iowa Secretary of State as soon as possible is important to her.

“We all [tend to be] instant people,” Benson said. “We like to know the results.”

When the process of getting the results is figured out, Phillips will not be participating, she said, as he is running unopposed on the ballot.

Benson is also figuring out the procedure for getting the election computers and printers connected and turned on. They usually have a county employee go to each polling station beforehand to turn everything on. They also serve as another set of hands as many of the poll workers tend to be retired citizens.

“Then they help put the computers away and bring the results back,” Benson said. “We have found this works really well for us. Hopefully we will be done by 10 p.m., 10:30 p.m. That is what I hope we are able to do. No one wants to wait all night.”

The first day for early voting is Oct. 16. Benson said residents will be able to go to the the Marshall County Election Center, the former fire station, to cast their ballots.

“Or they can request absentee forms to be mailed to their homes,” she said. “If they are snow birds, we can mail it to their second home.”

During the 2020 Presidential election, Benson said 10,348 Marshalltown residents cast their ballots.

“I think it will be that again for Marshalltown,” she said.

MARSHALL COUNTY BALLOT CANDIDATES AND ISSUES:

This list does not include unopposed races.

• President/Vice President — Donald Trump/J.D. Vance (R), Kamala Harris/Tim Walz (D), Libertarians Chase Oliver/Mike ter Maat, independents Shiva Ayyadurai/Crystal Ellis, Party for Socialism and Liberation Claudia De la Cruz/Karina Garcia and Socialist Party USA William Stodden/Stephanie Cholensky. We the People candidates Robert Kennedy and Nichole Shanahan will also be on the ballot, but Kennedy has withdrawn from the race.

• United States Representative District 4 — Randy Feenstra (R) and Ryan Melton (D)

• State Senator District 26 — Kara Warme (R) and Mike Wolfe (D)

• State Representative District 51 — Brett Barker (R) and Ryan Condon (D)

• State Representative District 52 — Sue Cahill (D) and David Blom (R)

• Marshall County Board of Supervisors — Kevin Goodman (R) and Libertarian Johnathon Remster

• Marshall County Auditor — Nan Benson (R) and independent Joel Oliva

Voters will decide whether or not a new LOST tax will be imposed in the unincorporated area of the county which will continue without repeal of the existing tax at a rate of 1 percent. If approved, it will be effective July 1, 2025, until repealed. Fifty percent of the tax revenue will be used for property tax relief and the remaining 50 percent for culvert repair, inspect, upkeep and replacement.

Five school district general obligation bonds will be decided – $57 million for the Marshalltown Community School District to rebuild and renew Miller Middle School and portions of Franklin Elementary field; $13.5 million for East Marshall to build additions to the elementary and high schools and improve the HVAC systems; $14 million for West Marshall to build an elementary school and an addition connecting the middle school to the high school; $12.3 million for GMG to build a classroom for the middle and high school and improve life safety systems and ADA requirements; $16.5 million for Gladbrook-Reinbeck to build an addition to the secondary school, as well as remodeling.

State Center residents will decide whether or not the city will issue $1.5 million in general obligation bonds to build a fire station.

Two Constitutional amendments will be determined. The first is that only United States citizens at least 17 years old, 18 by election day, will be eligible to vote in primary elections. The second is that the lieutenant governor will act as governor if the governor is unable to fulfill duties.

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Contact Lana Bradstream

at 641-753-6611 ext. 210 or

lbradstream@timesrepublican.com.