Erin Murphy
Lee Des Moines Bureau
DES MOINES By all accounts, Iowaâs 2020 general election was wildly successful, and that success was driven largely by early voting.
A bill that is rapidly making its way through the Iowa Legislature would constrain, if not outright ban, many of the early voting programs that made the 2020 election in Iowa a record-breaker.
More than 1.7 million Iowans cast a ballot in the 2020 general election, the most in state history. Statewide turnout was 76%, one of the highest rates in the nation. Every county had at least 65% turnout, and 14 surpassed 80%.
Early and absentee voting drove that high turnout: Iowans cast more than 1 million absentee ballots, another state record and nearly 60% of total ballots.
Iowa Year in Review: A long-awaited execution, a missing person s case comes to a close
One of north Iowa s most infamous criminals was executed in 2020, nearly three decades after he killed five people, including two children.
Posted: Dec 31, 2020 10:19 AM
Updated: Dec 31, 2020 10:42 AM
Most-read and most impactful stories from Iowa in 2020
A north Iowa man convicted of killing five people, including children, was executed.
Dustin Honken, a drug kingpin from north Iowa convicted of killing five people in a scheme to silence former dealers, was executed while in federal prison.
Honken was involved in one of North Iowa’s most well-publicized murder cases and was found guilty of five counts of murder in 2004.