School and City elections held same day this year; Candidates may file now

City and school elections will be conducted simultaneously this year, scheduled for Tuesday, November 5. A law passed by the Iowa Legislature in 2017 ended the longstanding tradition of holding school board elections in September, and Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate hopes the combined elections will increase voter participation.

“Turnout for city and school elections is usually not very high and I hope that changes this year,” Secretary Pate said. “A lot of voters might not realize that these local elections tend to have a much greater impact on their daily lives than the races for president and the U.S. Senate.”

The filing period for candidates in city and school general elections began Monday, August 26 and runs through Thursday, September 19. Candidate’s Guides, which include deadlines and information about collecting petition signatures to qualify for the ballot, are available at the Iowa Secretary of State’s website, sos.iowa.gov, in the Elections section.