News : County Auditor Rippel shares information about elections with local Kiwanis Club

Benton County Auditor Hayley Rippel

Benton County Auditor, Hayley Rippel spoke to the Vinton Kiwanis club sharing all things election-related. She's been with the Auditor's office for 26 years and has served as the Auditor for 8 of those years. Rippel also serves on the board of the Iowa Association of County Auditors as secretary and was just elected for a term as treasurer which will begin in January.

She began by recognizing the hardworking staff who work alongside her in the department. They are all tasked with continuing to be up to date on legislative changes in Iowa among other things, as well as the upcoming election.

Gina Edler is the Election Deputy and has been in the department for 16 years. She works to create the 39 ballots that the county will be using this year. She also coordinates all of the bags that go to each precinct with the election officials and tries to plan for all of the supplies that are needed throughout the day.

Rippel shared that October 16 is the first day that absentee votes can be cast. You can request a ballot earlier, but it won't be mailed out from the auditor's office until that date.

A new law was added that requires you to request your own ballot and it cannot be dropped off by anyone other than you or a family member that lives in your home. Ballots should be returned by the end of Election Day. Even if you decide not to vote, mail the ballot back, the Auditor's office must account for each ballot.

Dates to Note:

October 21 is the deadline for requesting an absentee ballot. This is also the deadline to pre-register to vote. You can still register on election day, you are just required to being more proof. You can also register online, simply click HERE. Absentee ballots are counted and can be started the day before election day, but they are entered last so anyone watching the numbers coming in live, won't be misled on the results..

Saturday, November 2 from 8-5:00 p.m. the Auditor's office will be open for early voting.

Monday, November 4 until 4:00 p.m. you can vote early at the Auditor's office.

Tuesday, November 5 is election day, and you will need to go to your precinct to vote or to turn in your ballots.

A bit of trivia! During the last presidential election, the Auditor's office mailed approximately 3,300 ballots

Rippel addressed some of the misunderstandings around elections. Before the election, you will probably get absentee ballot REQUEST forms, labeled with words like "Offical" stamped on them. Those are NOT sent from the Auditor and are NOT ballots. You may get multiple copies of these in the mail. Usually these are sent by candidates or parties.

Another issue the Auditor's Office is now facing is threats via the mail. The office is now trained to be careful when opening the mail, Offices in Iowa have been receiving mail with a white powder so the office has now been trained in the use of Narcan in case it's needed.

Other threats that the Auditor's office is also trained to handle include cyber threats. The voting machines are not connected to the internet so they are safe from being attacked. Every year, the office participates in a tabletop exercise along with the Sheriff, Emergency Management and the tech department to practice procedures in case of a threat. For election day, the office puts together an incident response plan...planning for the unexpected and ways to protect the ballots.

Voting Machines

The voting machines are never connected to the internet. They are unable to be hacked. Each machine is tested before the election when test ballots are put through the machines. Testing creates a paper trail of verification. Following the election the results are randomly checked against the machine reports, just to make sure they still functioned correctly.

This year's Ballot

On the ballot this year, there will be two constitutional amendments on the ballot, as well as justices for the Iowa courts. You will need to do your own research, Rippel suggested noting that the Auditor's Office cannot advise you about how to vote. You can bring your notes into the voting booth with you if you'd like, but the office can't advise.