Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
The countdown to the June 3 primary reached 40 days Thursday, and that’s a major milestone. Early voting began at auditor’s offices across the state, and the first absentee ballots are in the mail.
Iowa has one of the longest early voting periods in the nation, and that has changed the state’s political landscape since the law change in 1990 that allowed any Iowan to vote early for any reason. In effect, election day is now nearly six weeks long.Before 1990, when voters had to have a notarized reason such as a medical excuse or out of town business on election day, Iowa’s absentee rate was down around 5 percent. Now, in general elections, it’s closer to 25 percent, and approaches 50 percent in some counties.
Those high absentee rates in general elections are driven by political party efforts, mostly by Democrats. Early voting in primaries isn’t usually that heavy, but a well organized campaign can get its votes in the bank before election day.
Do you know where to vote on Election Day? Do you know what to bring with you? Get comprehensive voter information for your state here.
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