Iowa voter registration closes Oct 19 for the November 3, 2026 election. Every deadline — registration, mail ballot and early voting — with the official source for each.
Look up your own ballot and polling place →
Iowa county auditors begin mailing absentee ballots on Wednesday, Oct 14 - the earliest day state law allows. If you have already requested a ballot, it is mailed then; a later request is mailed within 24 hours of arriving.
In-person absentee (early) voting begins Wednesday, October 14, 2026 at county auditor offices; no reason needed. In-person absentee voting ends at 5:00 PM on Monday, November 2, 2026. The 20-day window is statewide; it happens at the county auditor's office, and some counties add satellite voting sites with their own hours.
Your signed absentee ballot request must reach your county auditor by 5:00 PM CT on Monday, October 19, 2026.
Complete your online registration by 11:59 PM CT on Monday, October 19, 2026 to be pre-registered. Mailed registrations must be postmarked by Monday, October 19, 2026, or received by the county auditor by 5:00 PM CT that day.
In-person absentee voting ends at 5:00 PM on Monday, November 2, 2026. The 20-day window is statewide; it happens at the county auditor's office, and some counties add satellite voting sites with their own hours.
Your absentee ballot must be received by your county auditor by 8:00 PM CT on Election Day; a postmark alone does not count.
After the October 19 pre-registration deadline you can still register in person, with proof of identity and residence, during in-person absentee voting at the county auditor's office or at your polling place on Election Day. Election Day Registration: register and vote the same day at the county auditor's office during early voting or at your polling place on Election Day (polls 7 AM-8 PM CT). Bring proof of identity and residence.
Monday, August 23, 2027 is the earliest a nomination petition may be filed for the November 2, 2027 city election. Thursday, September 16, 2027 at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline to file a nomination petition for the November 2, 2027 city election.
Thursday, September 16, 2027 at 5:00 p.m. is the deadline to file a nomination petition for the November 2, 2027 city election.
Monday, October 18, 2027 at 5:00 p.m. is the pre-registration deadline for the November 2, 2027 city election. Iowa also allows Election Day registration at the polls with proof of identity and residence.
Iowa law puts every city's regular election on the same day: the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year. In 2027 that is Tuesday, November 2, 2027. It is held together with the regular school election, so the ballot is often called the city-school election. A few cities also hold a city primary four weeks earlier, on October 5, 2027, or a runoff after the November election if their ordinance provides for one.
Every date above was read from the Iowa election office's own published material, last checked Tuesday, September 15, 2026. Confirm anything you are relying on with your local election authority.
https://voterready.iowa.gov/registertovote/
Registrations submitted online must be completed at or before 11:59 p.m. CT fifteen days prior to the election.
Deadline to Request Absentee Ballot to be Mailed received by County Auditor prior to 5:00 p.m. CT - Monday, October 19
https://voterready.iowa.gov/voting-absentee/
received by 8:00 p.m. CT on Election Day
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/53.8.pdf
Upon receipt of an application for an absentee ballot and immediately after the absentee ballots are printed, but not more than twenty days before the election, the commissioner shall mail an absentee ballot to the applicant within twenty-four hours, except as otherwise provided in subsection 3.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/48A.9.pdf
Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. fifteen days before each election.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/376.4.pdf
The petition must be filed not more than seventy-one days and not less than forty-seven days before the date of the election, and must be signed by eligible electors equal in number to at least two percent of those who voted to fill the same office at the last regular city election, but not less than ten persons.
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/376.1.pdf
A city shall hold a regular city election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of each odd-numbered year.