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CEDAR RAPIDS — In the days leading up to the 2024 presidential election, there were times that lines for early voting wound through the basement of the Jean Oxley Public Services Center, up the stairs, out the door and down the street.

Linn County Policy and Administration Director Darrin Gage said that fact could be attributed in part to the growing popularity of absentee in-person voting, but it also spoke to the complex and growing space needs of the Linn County Auditor’s Office.

“The requirement to bring the mail-in (voting) operations in-house and then the rise in popularity of early and absentee voting has really, really dramatically increased numbers since we came back to this building

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