How to get your Iowa voter file
You obtain your own Iowa voter file directly from the Iowa Secretary of State, State Registrar of Voters, under your own entitlement. $1,500 per year for the statewide subscription (weekly updates), or one-off at a $10 minimum plus $0.50 per 1,000 records over 20,000.
You stay the requester of record and the owner of the file. VoterFile never buys or resells voter data. You bring your own file, and we are only the software that processes it for your race.
- As the candidate or committee, submit the State of Iowa Specifications and Order Form for Voter List to the Secretary of State (voterlist@sos.iowa.gov) — Iowa accepts list requests at face value, with no oath or eligibility gate.
- You are the requesting custodian of the file; bring it to VoterFile and we process it into your race's walk lists, mail lists, and turf as your agent.
- Delivery is by email as CSV or text and includes up to five elections of participation history; the standard list omits SSN, driver-license number, and date of birth.
Sources: Iowa Secretary of State — voter registration list requests
What the software does with your Iowa file
Once you upload your file into a workspace isolated to your campaign, it is imported and normalized, de-duplicated, and geocoded to precincts and walkable geography.
Official-file fields and customer-entered campaign activity support filters, walk lists, mail lists, turf, and exports. Where the accepted state and privacy lane enables modeled outputs, turnout and vote-timing models calibrate to Iowa's own election history rather than California's, and any ethnicity-likelihood output is presented as an estimate rather than an official voter field.
- Import, normalize, and de-duplicate your uploaded file
- Geocode addresses to precincts and walkable turf
- Turnout and vote-timing models only where the Iowa workspace policy enables them
- Surname-and-geography ethnicity estimates only where the workspace policy enables them
- Walk lists, mail lists, and canvassing packets
- Portable CSV export for field, mail, and phones
Need help with your authorized Iowa file paperwork?
Requesting a voter file for the first time trips up a lot of candidates. VoterFile can explain the current source checklist, prepare the paperwork for your review, and validate the file after the issuing office delivers it. You remain the requester of record and submit the request under your own entitlement.
Prefer to do it yourself? The steps above are all you need. Either way, join the list and we will walk you through it.
- We prepare the state or county request for your signature
- You sign as the requester of record, as the law requires
- We load and organize the file in your private workspace; modeled outputs appear only where enabled
Built for the races the big vendors skip
The national voter-data vendors are priced and built for statewide and federal campaigns. A first-time candidate for Iowa city council or school board is too small for that model and ends up with a spreadsheet.
VoterFile is the opposite wedge: a flat one-time software fee per race, your own data, and no annual data contract. It is aimed squarely at the local challenger in a low-turnout race.
- Flat one-time per-race software fee, not a yearly data contract
- You bring your own file; government fees stay outside the software price
- Designed for city council, school board, and special-district races
How onboarding works
First you sign a short services agreement that keeps VoterFile as your data processor, with no sale, no pooling, and deletion on request. Then you obtain your authorized Iowa file using the steps above, upload it, and we import and organize it. Modeled outputs appear only where the accepted workspace policy enables them.
Nothing moves until the agreement is signed, and your file lives in a workspace no other customer can reach. When your race is over, or any time you ask, your file and the lists are deleted.
Ready to onboard the voter file your campaign obtained?
Request authorized-file onboarding. We review the campaign, requester path, permitted use, file layout, and import scope before opening the workspace.
Questions
Do you sell or provide the Iowa voter file?
No. You obtain your own file directly from the Iowa Secretary of State, State Registrar of Voters under your own entitlement. We are the software that processes the file you bring, never a data seller.
How much does the Iowa voter file cost?
$1,500 per year for the statewide subscription (weekly updates), or one-off at a $10 minimum plus $0.50 per 1,000 records over 20,000.
Can I use it for my Iowa local race?
Iowa limits use to a genuine political purpose or bona fide political research and bars commercial use (Iowa Admin. Code 821-3.2(2)). As the requesting custodian you are responsible for appropriate use; VoterFile processes the file only in your private workspace for your campaign.
What does the software itself cost?
The BYO founding rate starts at $299 per race for software and service only. You obtain the authorized voter file yourself and pay any government fee directly through the state's request process.