Voter Turnout Appears to Be Up in Iowa District 18 Race

Attention has been so great in the District 18 race, voters outside the district have been asking about the vote.

"People in Cedar Rapids and Johnson County call. They wonder why it is not on their ballot. I say, well, it is because it is not on your ballot," Linn County Auditor Joel Miller said.

Today's special election to fill the seat of Swati Dandekar, who resigned as a state senator, is drawing attention from around the state, and even the nation.

The outcome could turn the tide on hot-button issues, such as gay marriage and worker rights in Iowa, and it may offer a glimpse at the political climate heading into the 2012 election. The mayoral race, several city council seats and a ballot initiative to expand the water board are also up for grabs today.

Inside the district, voter turnout is expected to be up.

By the time polls opened this morning, 12 percent of registered voters had participated via absentee ballot, which matched turnout in the District 18 election four years ago, Miller said.

"This race is unprecedented. It is a special election on top of a city election," Miller said.

The day started with District 18 candidate Democrat Liz Mathis Republican Cindy Golding in the early voting count, but Miller said you can't necessarily draw any conclusions from that.

"Historically, Republican voters have not voted as early as the Democrats. In the last 10 or 11 years, that (has been) an ongoing trend. They tend to vote at polls. They changed that in the 2010 gubernatorial race, but it does't seem like they did that in this Senate District 18 race," Miller said.

Miller said he did not have an early count from today's voting, but said he expected "fairly decent turnout." He said he'd expect 12-15 percent turnout without the District 18 race, but didn't venture to guess for turnout with it.

Miller cited advertising as the biggest factor for driving up participation.

"The biggest factor is certainly there has been a lot of advertising. There has been contested races in most of the city races, but that always drives up participation," he said.