IOWA, USA — There are now 119 days until the general election.
As of Monday, voters in Iowa can request to vote absentee.
Voting by mail proved to be the most popular method for the June primary, helping to set a record turnout.
One thing for certain heading into the general election Nov. 2 is that we'll still be living in a pandemic.
Combine that with a presidential election, and voting absentee will likely be the popular method to cast you ballot.
Take a look at the numbers from the June primary.
More than 248,000 registered Republicans in Iowa voted, a turnout of just over 37%.
Democrats had an even stronger turnout with nearly 283,000 registered voters participating. Nearly a 42% turnout.
The total turnout was just shy of 39%.
That's huge compared to 2018 where the June primary was roughly 17%.
The main driving force was voting by mail.
Over a half-million Iowans voted and more than 400,000 did so absentee.
The secretary of state sent those forms out to every registered voter due to the COVID-19 pandemic to help ensure Iowans with concerns had the chance to vote.
However, that's not going to be the the case in November.
The legislature passed a law during the shortened session, which the governor signed, restricting the secretary of state's office from mailing ballots.
So if you voted absentee and want to do so again you'll have to request your ballot through your county auditor.
The secretary of state has this form you need to make the request online, fill it out and mail it to your county auditor.
Just like the primary, absentee ballots must be postmarked by November 2, the day before the general election on Tuesday, November 3.