Absentee voting is now available for the June 7th primaries. As of April 28th, people can vote early in person or by mail for the Democratic or Republican primary. To vote by absentee Washington County voters can stop in the auditor’s office and vote in person, or they can submit an absentee ballot request form to the auditor’s office and then have their ballot mailed to them.

In order to vote in the primary, a voter will need to register as a Republican or Democrat – party affiliation can be changed at the auditor’s office as well. Changing parties is available the day of the election, but Sue Meeks, elections administrator of Washington County, tells KCII News it’s recommended to do it ahead of time.

Republicans will select their candidate for Iowa House District 78 between Jarad Klein and Marcus Fedler. They’ll also pick candidates for two supervisors’ races in Washington County; in District 2 it is Stephanie Schlabaugh and incumbent Bob Yoder, and in District 4 it is incumbent Stan Stoops and Robert Shepherd. The final race Washington County Republicans will have a say in is the county sheriff with three candidates – Kirk Bailey, Ken Miller and Jared Schneider.

The only contested primary on the Democratic ballot is for U.S. Senator. Democrats will select either Thomas Fiegen, Robert Hogg, Patty Judge or Bob Krause to go up against incumbent Charles Grassley in November.