As many as 30% of Iowa voters could be affected by polling place closures, according to a new analysis by NPR, the Center for Public Integrity and Stateline.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Residents of Iowa have many fewer places to vote this year. Hundreds of polling places in that state are closed due to COVID, which could affect the outcome in a state where both the presidential race and a Senate contest are toss-ups. Here's Iowa Public Radio's Kate Payne.

KATE PAYNE, BYLINE: Sheena Thomas wasn't able to vote at her usual polling place this year, a senior care center on the west side of Des Moines. It's closed due to COVID, so she voted absentee instead.

SHEENA THOMAS: All of us, we are going to have to look up where we need to go. I mean, I'm not sure which place I would go.

PAYNE: Since 2016, Iowa has lost 261 polling places, according to an analysis by the Center for Public Integrity, Stateline and NPR. Election officials have struggled to find poll workers and been kicked out of churches and community centers due to COVID.

JOEL MILLER: That's just the reality. Insufficient poll workers means less polling places.

PAYNE: Joel Miller is the top election official in Linn County, the state's second-largest. He's closed or consolidated 37% of his polling places this year.

MILLER: I know that may create additional hardships on it, but, you know, there's a lot of people that could be volunteering to work the polls that are choosing not to. And I understand, but when we said that we need younger people to get involved to stand up this year, we weren't kidding.

PAYNE: While some counties are able to keep all of their sites open, others must close or consolidate half. Overall, this affects some 670,000 Iowans, 30% of the state's registered voters. And they're overwhelmingly in urban areas, which reliably vote Democratic. For those who do want to vote in-person on Election Day, research has shown that polling place changes can depress turnout. University of Northern Iowa political scientist Chris Larimer says that's a concern.

CHRIS LARIMER: If there's that big of an increase in those other forms of voting, absentee or early, is that enough to offset the consolidation of polling places or the closure of certain polling places? I just don't think we know yet.

PAYNE: Finding a new site can be time-consuming and confusing for voters, and people with low incomes and people of color may be less able to overcome those barriers or face longer wait times at the polls. Our analysis found that in one of the state's most diverse areas, Black Hawk County, census tracts with more people of color lost more polling places than whiter census tracts. County auditor Grant Veeder said he didn't consider demographics when he closed or consolidated 30% of his sites, including in the city of Waterloo, which has the state's largest Black population proportionally.

GRANT VEEDER: We were just looking for the places that we needed to make combinations and tried to make as few of them as we could.

PAYNE: Vikki Brown, chair of the Black Hawk County Democrats, says this isn't exactly surprising for Black voters.

VIKKI BROWN: It seems that things have always been made harder for us, but we're resilient, and we always find a way to do what we need to do.

PAYNE: Iowa voters do have options. Every county has at least one early voting site, and absentee voting is much more established here than in other states. Despite everything, Brown is optimistic.

BROWN: I'm certain that it's going to make it harder for people to vote. But I'm seeing a resolve right now where people are determined. Whatever you do, we're going to counteract it.

PAYNE: As of Friday, the state had received a record number of absentee ballots. But how these polling place changes affect turnout could have impacts beyond Iowa. The presidential Senate and multiple House races here have all been labeled toss-ups. Larimer says it's so close, these changes could affect the outcome, especially down ballot. For NPR News, I'm Kate Payne in Iowa City.

(SOUNDBITE OF SUFJAN STEVENS' "FOR CLYDE TOMBAUGH") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Tags: Series: 2020 Election: Secure Your Vote