Departments | Auditor | Election Information | 2008 General Election
Sample Election Ballots
Saturday, October 25th is the final day to pre-register to vote in the November 4, 2008 General Election. The office of the county auditor will be open until 5:00 p.m. on that date for eligible electors who wish to register in person. Completed voter registrations may be mailed to the county auditor, but must be either received by the above deadline or postmarked by the U. S. Postal Service on/before Monday, October 20th in order to be pre-registered for this election.
Voters who are currently registered need not re-register unless they have changed residences from one county to another. A voter who has changed addresses within the same county as the voter is currently registered may change his/her voter registration address anytime before the election or at the voter's new polling site on Election Day.
Registering to vote is a legal requirement to be eligible to vote in Iowa. To be eligible to register and vote, you must:
-- be at least 18 years old by Election Day
-- be a United States citizen
-- be an Iowa resident
-- not have been convicted of a felony (or, if you have been convicted of a felony, have had your voting rights restored)
-- not have been judged mentally incompetent by a court
-- give up your right to vote in any other place.
Iowa law now allows eligible persons to register and vote at the polls on Election Day. An Election Day registrant must provide acceptable proof of identity and current residence in the precinct. Click on the link below to see the Election Day Registration Guide produced by the Iowa Secretary of State.
Iowa law states that voter registration information is a public record. However, the use of that information is restricted to bona fide political purposes or to a bona fide official governmental purpose. Use for commercial purposes is prohibited by law.
Persons advocating for or against a candidate or public measure on the ballot may request lists of registered voters from the county auditor's office in a variety of customized formats. For further information, stop by the county auditor's office in the courthouse or call (641) 421-3041.
| Mason City | Clear Lake | Cerro Gordo County |
Eligible and registered voters wishing to cast absentee ballots may vote in person at the office of the county auditor, or may make written requests for absentee ballots to be mailed to them.
Voting in person
A registered voter may cast an absentee ballot on any regular business day prior to Election Day beginning Thursday, September 25, 2008. Regular business hours are from 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m.
Voting by mail
Written requests for absentee ballots:
-- require the voter's name, date of birth, voter registration address, name or date of the election, and voter's signature
-- must be physically received by the county auditor by Friday, October 31st.
-- should be addressed as follows:
Cerro Gordo County Auditor
220 N Washington Ave
Mason City IA 50401
It is important to specify the name of the election (2008 General Election) or date (November 4, 2008).
Personal delivery
Iowa's laws have changed. The voter may personally deliver a voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office or may designate any other person to do so. If the voter chooses to designate another person to deliver the voted absentee ballot, the voter may require the other person to fill out a receipt and give it to the voter, which the voter should keep. Iowa law requires the other person to deliver the voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office by the time the polls close on election night or no later than 72 hours after picking up the ballot from the voter, whichever occurs first.
A voted absentee ballot may be delivered in-person to the county auditor's office on any regular business day. Regular business hours are from 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m.
In order to be considered on time to be counted for the November 4, 2008 General Election, a voted absentee ballot that is personally delivered must be physically received in the county auditor's office by the time the polls close at 9:00 p.m. on election night.
A voted absentee ballot cannot be delivered to a polling place on Election Day; it will not be counted. However, a voter may surrender an absentee ballot to the precinct election officials at the polling site on Election Day, and the voter will be allowed to vote at the polls.
Mailing voted absentee ballots
Iowa's laws have changed. The voter may personally mail a voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office or may designate any other person to do so. If the voter chooses to designate another person to mail the voted absentee ballot, the voter may require the other person to fill out a receipt and give it to the voter, which the voter should keep. Iowa law requires the other person to mail the voted absentee ballot to the county auditor's office in time to have it postmarked before Election Day or no later than 72 hours after picking up the ballot from the voter, whichever occurs first.
Return postage for mailed absentee ballots has already been applied to the ballot envelope, as required by Iowa law.
In order to be considered on time to be counted for the November 4, 2008 General Election, a voted absentee ballot that is mailed back to the county auditor's office must bear a postmark dated prior to Election Day and must be received back in the county auditor's office by Monday, November 10th.
Business hours are 8:00 a.m. through 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Also, the county auditor's office will be open from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. on the following days:
Saturday, October 25th for voter registration and absentee voting
Saturday, November 1st for absentee voting and returning absentee ballots
The county auditor's office will be closed on the following days.
Veterans Day Tuesday, November 11th
Pursuant to Iowa law, the absentee board (special precinct board) is composed of precinct election officials appointed by the Democratic and Republican Parties and by the county auditor.
The absentee board will meet at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, November 3rd to begin preliminary work and to review and open the Affidavit Envelopes for absentee ballots. Each absentee ballot will be left inside its Secrecy Envelope until Election Day. The absentee board will count absentee ballots beginning at 9:00 a.m. on Election Day; however, results from absentee ballots will not be released until shortly after the polls close at 9:00 p.m
A voter in Cerro Gordo County will see one of 43 different ballot types. Most of the ballots look the same for each voter, and differences are based on the voter's residence. County supervisor districts 1 and 3 are on the ballot in the respective precincts. Similarly, some voters will fill seats in Iowa Senate District 6 and Iowa House Districts 12, 13, and 14. Some persons will vote for trustees of the Clear Lake Sanitary District, and some rural voters will vote for township officers. Public measures at this election will be the question for some rural voters of appointing township officers and authorization in the City of Rockwell to enter into a loan agreement in the amount not to exceed $1.5 million to construct, furnish, and equip a municipal swimming pool.
The public test of the county voting system will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Monday October 6, 2008 in the building at 121 3rd Street NW, Mason City.
On Election Day, the polls will open at 7:00 a.m. and close at 9:00 p.m.
Election night results are expected to be available by 11:00 p.m. The county auditor's office in the courthouse will be open until all precincts have reported. Members of the public are welcome to be present, to call in for results, or to check up-to-date totals on this website.
Election night results are unofficial. They include absentee ballots and results from the precincts, but do not include results from provisional ballots that are subsequently determined to have been valid. They also do not include any valid voted absentee ballots that were postmarked prior to Election Day and that are received by Monday, November 10th.
The Cerro Gordo County board of supervisors will meet in regular session at 2:00 p.m. on Monday, November 10th to canvass the results of the November 4, 2008 General Election. At this meeting the board will canvass the tally lists and prepare official abstracts of the election results. The canvass will include election night results, as well as any provisional ballots and late-absentee ballots that are determined to be valid and on time. The meeting is open to the public.
Voters in Cerro Gordo County will use special paper ballots that will be counted at each precinct with the use of precinct-count optical-scan machines. Absentee ballots will be counted with the use of a high-speed optical-scan machine. In addition, for any voter who needs assistance in marking the ballot, a ballot-marking machine will be available in each precinct in the county. It will also be available for demonstrations and for absentee voting at the county auditor's office. All election equipment and related software has been tested and certified for use in the State of Iowa.
The order of political parties and candidate names is determined pursuant to Iowa law.
Partisan offices. Pursuant to Iowa law, the county auditor decides the order of the two political parties on the ballot at this election. For each partisan office on the ballot in 2008 the Democratic Party candidates will be listed first and the Republican Party candidates second (this order is reversed in gubernatorial election years such as 2006 and 2010). Following Democrat and Republican canidiates, the county auditor decides the order of the other political parties. Candidates who are nominated by petition are listed last.
Nonpartisan offices. Candidates for nonpartisan offices such as Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner, County Agricultural Extension Council, and Township Trustee are determined by the county auditor drawing lots.
Clear Lake Sanitary District Trustees. Candidates' names will be rotated if there are more candidates listed on the ballot than the number of positions to be filled. Ballots in the first precinct in which the office is listed on the ballot will show the candidates' names in alphabetical order by last name. The candidates' names will be rotated in each subsequent precinct by moving the first name to the end.
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Pursuant to Iowa law, a pollwatcher at the General Election must be appointed and accredited by the executive or central committee of the political party the pollwatcher represents. A candidate, except for the purpose of voting, may not be present at and in the immediate vicinity of a polling place on Election Day and may not serve as a pollwatcher.
A candidate or a person who advocates for or against a candidate or a ballot issue may be subject to requirements and restrictions of Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure laws. Campaign finance disclosure forms, brochures, and other information are available at www.state.ia.us/ethics :
Iowa Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board
510 E 12th, Suite 1A
Des Moines IA 50319
(515) 281-4028 phone (515) 281-3701 fax
