Based on the latest data from the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office, I’ve updated after the jump tables showing how many absentee ballots Iowans have requested and returned, statewide and in the four Congressional districts.

Tables from previous days can be viewed here. Note that the number of ballots returned is still quite low, because most of the 99 county auditors are starting to mail ballots this week. In-person early voting begins tomorrow, 40 days before the general election.

Among the four Congressional districts, IA-02 has both the largest number of ballot requests so far and the largest difference between the Democratic and Republican numbers. That’s bad news for Mariannette Miller-Meeks in her third attempt to unseat Representative Dave Loebsack, an uphill battle in my opinion. It may also be good news for Democrats hoping to maintain or expand their Iowa Senate majority, because several of the most competitive Iowa Senate districts are located within the second Congressional district (namely, Senate district 39, Senate district 41, Senate district 15, and to a lesser extent Senate district 49).

Absentee ballots requested by Iowa voters as of September 23, 2014

Congressional district	Democrats	Republicans	no-party voters	Libertarian	Iowa Green	total
IA-01	17,810	8,269	7,681	29	26	33,814
IA-02	21,069	8,324	8,542	26	33	37,994
IA-03	17,904	9,174	5,798	32	20	32,928
IA-04	11,555	9,157	4,815	16	12	25,555
statewide	68,338	34,923	26,836	103	91	130,291

Absentee ballots received by Iowa county auditors as of September 23, 2014

Congressional district	Democrats	Republicans	no-party voters	Libertarian	Iowa Green	total
IA-01	426	341	121	2	0	890
IA-02	308	113	55	1	0	477
IA-03	441	469	101	1	0	1,012
IA-04	120	206	35	1	0	362
statewide	1,295	1,129	312	5	0	2,741