Kirkwood Library: Voting: Home

National Voter Education Week - Oct. 5-9

Be Voter Ready
Monday, Oct. 5 - Registration is the first step to becoming a voter. Use this link to check your voter registration status or to get help voting. See below for more links from Linn County and Johnson County.

Voter Registration - Linn County

Voter Registration information
From the Linn County Auditor - information on how to register, when, and where. Pre-registration ends Saturday, Oct. 24, 2020, at 5 p.m.

Voter Registration - Johnson County

Voter Registration guide
From the Johnson County Auditor, information on how to register: Online; by Mail; in Person; on Election Day.
Early Voting Schedule
Early voting begins on Monday, October 5. This page lists locations and times for early voting, including drive-up voting. Drive-up voting takes place at the Johnson County Health and Human Services Building, 855 S. Dubuque St. - enter from Clinton St.

Register to Vote in Iowa

Voter Registration
Site lists qualifications to vote in Iowa and links to the voter registration form.
Find your County Auditor/Commissioner of Elections
Click on the county you live in on the state map of Iowa to find the mailing address, telephone number, etc. of your county auditor.
Find your Precinct or Polling Place
The polling place data on this page is for regularly scheduled Primary, General, School and City Elections only. It is provided by county auditors through the statewide voter registration database.
Absentee Voting
What to do and how to vote if you cannot get to the polls on election day.
Election Day Registration
Iowa allows you to register and vote on election day. This page will provide you with the rules and guidelines.

Websites on U.S. government participation

Find your Iowa Legislator
Enter you address to find your state representative and senator.
Participating in Government
Provides easy ideas for how each citizen can make a difference in their government.
Public Service and Volunteerism
This list of organizations is provided by USA.gov.
In Brief: Citizen Participation in the American Federal System
This 35 page document was written by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. This commission was created by the U.S. Congress.

eBooks on Participating in your Government

The Activist's Handbook by Aiden Ricketts
ISBN: 9781848135932
Publication Date: 2012-03-15

Click on the title in blue to access these books from any computer. You must log in with your k# and password.

A Citizen's Guide to Grassroots Campaigns by Jan Barry
ISBN: 9780813528014
Publication Date: 2000-06-01

Books in the Kirkwood Library

Right to Vote by Alexander Keyssar
Call Number: Iowa City Library: 324.62 K44r
ISBN: 046502968X
Publication Date: 2000-08-22
Most Americans take for granted their right to vote, whether they choose to exercise it or not. But the history of suffrage in the U.S. is, in fact,the story of a struggle to achieve this right by our society's marginalized groups. In The Right to Vote, Duke historian Alexander Keyssar explores the evolution of suffrage over the course of the nation's history.
The Right to Vote by Donald Grier Stephenson
Call Number: Iowa City Library: 342.73 S836r
ISBN: 1851096485
Publication Date: 2004-10-20
From its roots in early English rules to its practice today, this work covers the evolution, expansion, and ongoing debates regarding "the first liberty" in America.
Voting Rights by Greenhaven Press Staff (Editor); Noah Berlatsky (Editor)
Call Number: e-Book OR Main Library: Debate Books 324.62 V971s 2015
ISBN: 9780737773002
Publication Date: 2015-02-06
Editor Noah Berlatsky helps readers delve into the issues surrounding voting rights such as whether or not voting rights protections are still necessary, if states are restricting voting rights, if voting rights apply to particular groups, and if changing voting procedures can promote equality.
Voting in America by Robert E. DiClerico
Call Number: e-Book OR Main Library: 324.609 D554v
ISBN: 1576079317
Publication Date: 2004-05-25
A thorough examination of the people, forces, and events that have shaped the right, opportunity, and value of the vote in America from 1715 to the present.