Early Voting Under Way at West Des Moines Library; Dallas County Sites Open Next Week

West Des Moines residents who want to cast their ballots now and avoid Election Day lines at the polls can vote at the West Des Moines Public Library. The satellite voting location will remain open until Oct. 27.

The West Des Moines Public Library location early voting hours are:

• 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday - Thursdays
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays
• 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 27

Polk County Auditor Jamie Fitzgerald has ramped up staffing levels for early voting in Iowa, the first of the battleground states to cast ballots in the 2012 presidential election.

Early voting at the downtown Des Moines auditor's office continues through Nov. 5.

Early voting is important in Iowa. As of Monday, registered Democrats had requested 109,709 absentee ballots in Iowa, while Republicans had requested only a fraction of that number – 20,548. 

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As of Sept. 4, registered Republicans outnumbered registered Democrats, 620,868 to 602,636, but registered voters who did not declare a party outnumber both with 666,279 voters.

While Democrats have been pushing early voting throughout the summer, the Romney campaign waited to make its push until the ballots actually became available. Real Clear Politics said the first of 10 scheduled mailings on early-voting information hit Republicans’ mailboxes this week.

In Polk County, Fitzgerald said, absentee ballot requests are about double what they were in 2008.

One change this year will be that a registered voter in Polk County may vote at any satellite location, regardless of whether it is in the person’s city of residence, a change that is designed to boost voter participation in the Nov. 6 election.

In addition, several polling places open next week in the Dallas County portions of West Des Moines, Clive and in Waukee.

Hours for in-person voting in the Election Office, located at 120 Second Ave., Suite, A, Des Moines, are:

• Monday-Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Oct. 27: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 3: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Dallas County Satellite Locations

If you live in the Dallas County Portion of West Des Moines, here's a rundown of early voting locations in the metro in that county.

St. Boniface Church, 1200 Warrior Ln., Waukee
Oct. 15 - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Oct. 18 - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Dahls, 15500 Hickman Rd., Clive
Oct. 17 - 12 - 6 p.m.
Oct. 24 - 12 - 6 p.m.

Edgewater Wesley Life Community, 9225 Cascade Ave., West Des Moines
Oct. 15 - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Oct. 22 - 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

St. Francis of Assisi Church, 7075 Ashworth Rd., West Des Moines
Oct. 19 - 12 - 6 p.m.
Oct. 26 - 12 - 6 p.m.

Point of Grace Church, 305 NE Dartmoor Dr., Waukee (by petition)
Oct. 23 - 2 - 8 p.m.