Voters cast ballots under twinkling lights near the bar at Carper Vineyard and Winery near Norwalk on Nov. 5, 2024. (Photo by Kathie Obradovich/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Most Iowans vote in churches, community centers, libraries and the like. But Iowans in two central-Iowa precincts got to cast their ballots in slightly more festive surroundings: wineries.
“I think it’s quirky and fun,” said Dani Wolf, who works at the Summerset Winery in rural Indianola, the site of Warren County’s Lincoln #3 polling place.
Voters drive past a dormant vineyard and walk past the tasting room bar and gift shop to get to the polling place, in a large event space in the back of the building. Behind the voting screens, two wine barrels form a table with a refrigerated tapper behind it.
No one was drinking mid-afternoon on Tuesday — and no one was voting, either.
Poll worker Teresa VanRaden said the precinct is small and a lot of people voted early. As for the novelty of voting at a winery? “It’s just like voting anywhere else,” she said.
At the Linn precinct in rural Norwalk, twinkle lights crossed overhead as voters cast their ballots at the Carper Vineyard and Winery. “Yeah, it’s different — go get a drink on the side,” voter Troy King, 50, said after voting.
No drinks were being served over the noon hour, but a few more voters were casting ballots.
It’s not Napa Valley, but more Iowans may be voting in wineries in the future. There are over 100 wineries in the state and more than 1,200 acres of vineyards, according to the Iowa Wine Growers Association.