Voters: Be prepared for a wait at the polls

Chickasaw County’s top election official says the interest in this coming Tuesday’s primary, combined with the Coronavirus COVID-19 outbreak, may mean long lines at the polls.
“We’ve been pushing the vote by mail, and I think a lot of people are responding to that,” said Chickasaw County Auditor Joan Knoll, who serves as the county’s election commissioner. “I’m still telling people that’s the way to go because there will be lines and you will probably have to wait at the polls.”
Although the county has just one contested primary race — District 4 Supervisor Steve Geerts is being challenged by former Chickasaw County Emergency Management Director Ken Rasing in the Democratic primary — a couple of federal races have heightened primary interest in 2020.
Republican Rep. Steve King, who has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2003, is being challenged by Randy Feenstra, Steven Reeder, Bret Richards and Jeremy Taylor — with the winner facing J.D. Scholten in November.
On the Democratic side, five candidates — Michael Franken, Kimberly Graham, Theresa Greenfield, Eddie Mauro and Cal Woods — are vying to take on U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst in the general election.Still, this may be like no other election in American history.
Because of the COVID-19 crisis, there will be just two voting sites — New Hampton High School’s old gym and the New Hampton Middle School cafeteria — next Tuesday, when polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
— For more on this story, see the May 26 Tribune