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Ron Westercamp arrived at his polling place on Tuesday about 45 minutes before the polls opened. A blue camping chair in hand, he staked out a spot on the sidewalk, chatting with other voters as he sat down, prepared to wait as long as it would take to cast his vote in person.

Quickly, the line behind him grewto about 300 people, stretching through the parking lot and onto a residential street behind Ankeny First United Methodist Church.

Despite the surging COVID-19 pandemic, the story was the same throughout Polk County and across Iowa on Election Day, as voters lined up early to cast their ballots in an election that already had set statewide early voting records.In Council Bluffs, a 2-hour wait was reported at one polling station.

Within 2hoursTuesday,32,344 voters had cast ballots in person in Polk County, according to auditor Jamie Fitzgerald.

By 3:30 p.m. the number had reached 80,000.

A final statewide count was not due until late Tuesday, but Secretary of State Paul Pate said he expected a record turnout.

Precinct worker Terri Gideon of Indianola lays out I Voted stickers at the Annett Nature Center in Indianola on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.(Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register)

One Des Moines precinct captain said voting officials hadtold herit wouldn't be a busy day since so many people already had voted early. Instead, Sherry Folwell said, Tuesday broughtlong lines, a lot of newly registeredvotersand a vote-counting machine that broke down twice before noon because itsballot feeder was off-kilter.

"This is 2020 nothing is normal," she said.

Westercamp, 67, said he expected there to be a line, which is why he showed up early he needed to get voting out of the way before reporting to his jobas an appliance repairman. The Trump supportersaid there was no question he would cast his ballot in person this year, as he has every year.

"That's the way I've always done it," he said. "And I feel like it's more secure."

Other Iowans who voted in person voiced similar sentiments, saying they wanted to be there in person to see their votes fed into the automated counting machinesamid national concerns that mail-in ballots would not arrive in time to be counted if at all. President Donald Trump himself had discouraged mail-in voting, citing unverified reports of voter fraud, while former Vice President Joe Biden has encouraged Americans to vote however they feel comfortable.

Witnessing their vote being counted was of such importance to Traci Richison and Dawn Garrett that, when thevote counterat First Church of the Open Bible in Des Moines went down,they decided to wait an hour and 10 minutes for it to be fixed so they could personallyfeed their ballots into the machine.

Voters line up to cast ballots at the Jester Park Outdoor Recreation & Wellness Center in Granger, Iowa, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.(Photo: Zach Boyden-Holmes/The Register)

Poll workers directed voters to place their ballots ina box, and said the votes would be recorded once the machine was workingagain.ButRichisonandGarrett wanted to do it themselves.

"I just feel like I want to make sure that it's in there. You know, you're skeptical,"Richison said."And I'd just much rather wait for it to get fixed so I know that it's fed and counted."

"I completely agree," Garrett added. "I mean, this is an important election and I don't want to leave it up to chance."

Danielle Baumler, 23, waited about 45 minutes in an estimated 100-person line at Lutheran Church of Hope in Ankeny before checking in to vote. She arrived right as the polls opened at 7 a.m.

"I came in expecting to wait an hour or 2hours, so it'sgoing faster than I thought it was going to," she said.

Baumler, who is in the middle of wedding planning, said she was too busy to cast a vote early.She said that with her wedding scheduled later this month, she's been paying attention to the rising COVID-19 cases in Iowa, but felt confident voting in person was safe, givenU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance.

Mask wearing in the line, which stretched throughout the parking lot, was sporadic. Masks were not required in Iowa polling places on Election Day, and Baumler herself was not wearing one.

Precinct captain Emilee Stripe wipes down a table at the West Des Moines law enforcement center on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.(Photo: Bryon Houlgrave/The Register)

Poll workers were supposed to sanitize voting stations between each use,and hand sanitizer was provided near ballot counting machines and the "I Voted"stickers.

That proved to be a problem in some precincts, where the sanitizer gunkedup machines. In some instances, machines were rejecting ballots that had too much hand sanitizer on them a problemthe CDC warned about in its votingguidance.

Most voters the Des Moines Register surveyed said they felt safe in the lines, where voters generally maintained safe social distance.

But James Welty said once he was inside his precinct at the Fort Des Moines United Methodist Church on Des Moines' south side, all spacing went out the window. He said about 25 people waiting for a voting booth to open were "jammed into a very tight space."

He described the situation as "super spreader to the max."

But for some, the pandemic was the No. 1 reason to show up and vote. Chloe Gamble, a 29-year-old Des Moines resident who voted for Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris, said she lost two jobs on the same day, March 17, when Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered businesses across the state to shut down in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19.She had worked in the hospitality industry and at a podiatry clinic, but now is struggling to make ends meet.

Chloe Gamble after voting Tuesday afternoon at Polk County River Place.(Photo: Rood, Lee)

"For me, it's primarily about the handling of the coronavirus. The lack of a second stimulus bill has really impacted my life and the lives of many of my friends," she said.

"People out there just need help."

Radenko Stanisk, a retired construction worker who came to Iowa from Bosnia 23 years ago,said he decided to vote for Trump this year after supporting Democrats in the past.

Although people complain about the pandemic, Stanisk said, the country and the economy had been on a better track with Trump.

"I voted for (President Barack) Obama, and he didn't help the middle class," he said. "In fact,I paid a penalty because I had no health insurance when I was a construction worker."

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

Kim Norvell covers growth and development for the Register. Reach her at knorvell@dmreg.com or 515-284-8259. Follow her on Twitter @KimNorvellDMR.

Lee Rood's Reader's Watchdog column helps Iowans get answers and accountability from public officials, the justice system, businesses and nonprofits. Reach her atlrood@registermedia.com, at 515-284-8549, on Twitter at@leeroodor on Facebook atFacebook.com/readerswatchdog.

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Despite record-setting early balloting, Iowans encounter long lines as they vote in person on Election Day - Des Moines Register

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