HSB 628 (LSB 5348XD (4) 90)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED SECRETARY OF STATE BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the administration of elections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 47.4, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   47.4  Election filing deadlines.
   If the deadline for a filing pertaining to an election falls on a day that the state or county commissioner’s office is closed for business, the deadline shall be extended to the next day that the office of state commissioner or county commissioner is open for business to receive the filing. This section does not apply to the deadline for voter registration under section 48A.9, subsection 2.
    Sec. 2.  Section 48A.9, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The commissioner’s office shall be open from 8:00 a.m. until at least 5:00 p.m. on the day registration closes before each regularly scheduled election. However, if the last day to register to vote for a regularly scheduled election falls on the day after Thanksgiving, the deadline shall be the following Monday.
    Sec. 3.  Section 49.25, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The commissioner shall determine pursuant to section 49.26, subsection 2, in advance of an election whether ballots voted in that election shall be counted by automatic tabulating equipment or by precinct election officials. If automatic tabulating equipment will be used, the The commissioner shall furnish voting equipment for use by voters with disabilities.
    Sec. 4.  Section 49.26, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   49.26  Commissioner to decide method Methods of voting —— counting of ballots.
   1.  In all elections regulated by this chapter, the voting shall be by paper ballots printed and distributed as provided by law, or by voting systems meeting the requirements of chapter 52.
   2.  a.  The commissioner shall determine in advance of each election conducted for a city of three thousand five hundred or less population or for any school district whether the ballots will be counted by automatic tabulating equipment or by the precinct election officials. In making such a determination, the commissioner shall consider voter turnout for recent similar elections and factors considered likely to affect voter turnout for the forthcoming election.
   b.  If the commissioner concludes, pursuant to paragraph “a”, that voting will probably be so light as to make counting of ballots by the precinct election officials less expensive than preparation and use of automatic tabulating equipment, paper ballots may be used, subject to paragraph “c”. If paper ballots are used, the commissioner shall use ballots and instructions similar to those used when the ballots are counted by automatic tabulating equipment.
   c.  Notwithstanding a determination by the commissioner pursuant to paragraph “b”, upon receipt of a petition signed by not less than one hundred eligible electors, the commissioner shall count the ballots at an election described in paragraph “a” using automatic tabulating equipment. A petition filed under this paragraph must be received by the commissioner not later than 5:00 p.m. on the forty-second day before the election.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  49.29  Electronic election register and poll book.
   1.  The commissioner may use an electronic election register or election poll book in lieu of a paper register or poll book if the electronic election register or poll book is a product that has been certified for use in this state by the state commissioner.
   2.  The state commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A for certification standards for electronic election registers and election poll books. The certification standards must include operational and security standards.
    Sec. 6.  Section 49.124, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The commissioner shall conduct, not later than the day before each primary and general election, a training course for all election personnel, and the commissioner may do so before any other election the commissioner administers. The personnel shall include all precinct election officials and any other persons who will be employed in or around the polling places on election day. At least two precinct election officials who will serve on each precinct election board at the forthcoming election shall attend the training course. If the entire board does not attend, those members who do attend shall so far as possible be persons who have not previously attended a similar training course.  The state commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to implement instruction required under this subsection.
    Sec. 7.  Section 49.128, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   No later than twenty days following a general an election, the commissioner shall place on file in the commissioner’s office a certification that the county met the following requirements at the general election:
    Sec. 8.  Section 49.128, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  f.  The state commissioner may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to require that the commissioner provide and certify additional information.
    Sec. 9.  Section 49.128, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  a.  If the county is required to conduct an audit under section 50.51, the commissioner shall include a copy of the results with the certification required under this section.
   b.  If a county is not required to conduct an audit under section 50.51, the commissioner shall include a copy of the certification required under this section along with the election canvass summary report required under section 50.30A.
    Sec. 10.  NEW SECTION.  49.129  Pre-election submission requirements.
   1.  No later than ten days before the election, the commissioner shall notify the state commissioner of all of the following:
   a.  The date, time, and location the testing of voting equipment required pursuant to section 52.35 is to be performed.
   b.  The date the election notice will be published pursuant to section 49.53 and where it will appear.
   c.  The date the election personnel training course required pursuant to section 49.124 is to be conducted.
   2.  The state commissioner may adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to require that the commissioner provide and certify additional information.
    Sec. 11.  Section 50.11, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 12.  Section 50.15A, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   50.15A  Unofficial results of voting —— general election only.
   1.  In order to provide the public with an early source of election results before the official canvass of votes, the state commissioner of elections, in cooperation with the commissioners of elections, shall conduct an unofficial canvass of election results following the closing of the polls on the day of a regular city election, regular school election, primary election, or general election, or any other election at the discretion of the state commissioner. The unofficial canvass shall report election results for national offices, statewide offices, the office of state representative, the office of state senator, and other offices or public measures at the discretion of the state commissioner of elections. The unofficial canvass shall also report the total number of ballots cast at the general reported election.
   2.  a.  After the polls close on election day, the commissioner of elections shall periodically provide election results to the state commissioner of elections as the precincts in the county report election results to the commissioner pursuant to section 50.11. If the commissioner determines that all precincts will not report election results before the office is closed, the commissioner shall report the most complete results available prior to leaving the office at the time the office is closed as provided in section 50.11. The commissioner shall specify the number of precincts included in the report to the state commissioner of elections and provide an explanation in writing as to why all precincts will not be reported.
   b.  The state commissioner of elections shall tabulate unofficial election results as the results are received from the commissioners of elections and shall periodically make the reports of the results available to the public.
   3.  Before the day of the general reported election, the state commissioner of elections shall provide a form and instructions for reporting unofficial election results pursuant to this section.
   4.  The state commissioner shall set a date and time by which a commissioner must complete testing of the system used for the unofficial canvass before the reported election.
    Sec. 13.  Section 50.24, subsection 3, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  The board shall certify an election canvass summary report prepared by the commissioner. The election canvass summary report shall include the results of the election, including scatterings, overvotes, and undervotes, by precinct for each contest and public measure that appeared on the ballot of the election being canvassed. However, if paper ballots are used pursuant to section 49.26, the election canvass summary report shall not include overvotes and undervotes.
    Sec. 14.  Section 50.48, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  a.  (1)  At the conclusion of a recount, the recount board shall make and file with the commissioner a written report of its findings, signed by a majority of the recount board.
   (2)  The commissioner or commissioner’s designee may assist in compiling the written report. The written report shall include a full tally and accounting of ballots reviewed by the recount board and shall be reported as required by sections 50.24 and 53.20. The written report must allow the commissioner to correct the canvass of voters in the manner required by law, if applicable.
   b.  If the recount board’s report is that the abstracts prepared pursuant to the county board’s canvass were incorrect as to the number of votes cast for the candidates for the office or nomination in question, in that county or district, the commissioner shall at once so notify the county board. The county board shall reconvene within three days after being so notified, but no later than noon on the twenty-seventh day following the election in question for a recount of the offices of president and vice president, and shall correct its previous proceedings.
    Sec. 15.  Section 52.1, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  At all elections conducted under chapter 49, and at any other election unless the commissioner directs otherwise pursuant to section 49.26, votes shall be cast, registered, recorded, and counted by means of optical scan voting systems, in accordance with this chapter.
    Sec. 16.  Section 53.17, subsection 4, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   When a person designated by the voter pursuant to section 53.33 retrieves a completed absentee ballot from the voter, the designee shall, upon request of the voter, fill out a receipt to be retained by the voter. The state commissioner shall prescribe a form for receipts required by this subsection. The receipt shall include all of the following:
    Sec. 17.  Section 53.17, subsection 4, paragraph d, Code 2024, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 18.  Section 53.17, subsection 4, paragraph f, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   f.  A statement that the completed absentee ballot will be delivered to the commissioner’s office within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or before the closing of the polls on election day, whichever is earlier, or that the completed absentee ballot will be mailed to the commissioner within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter.
    Sec. 19.  Section 53.20, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  For the primary election, general election, and for any election in which the commissioner determines in advance of the election to report the results of the special precinct by the resident precincts of the voters who cast absentee and provisional ballots, the commissioner shall prepare a separate absentee ballot style for each precinct in the county and shall program the voting system to produce reports by the resident precincts of the voters.
    Sec. 20.  Section 54.7, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The presidential electors and alternate electors shall meet in the capitol, at the seat of government, on the first Monday Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December next following their election.
    Sec. 21.  Section 277.4, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  Any person on whose behalf nomination petitions have been filed under this section may withdraw as a candidate by filing a signed statement to that effect with the secretary consistent with section 44.9, subsection 5.
    Sec. 22.  REPEAL.  Section 52.41, Code 2024, is repealed.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the conduct of elections. The bill changes the filing deadline for voter registration forms that would be due on the day after Thanksgiving from the following Monday to the next day the office of the county commissioner of elections or the state commissioner of elections is open.
   The bill strikes a provision allowing a county commissioner of elections to choose whether to use automatic tabulating equipment in certain elections and makes conforming changes.
   The bill allows a county commissioner of elections to use an electronic election register or poll book in lieu of a paper register or poll book if the electronic election register or poll book is a product that has been certified for use in the state by the state commissioner of elections. The bill directs the state commissioner of elections to adopt rules regarding electronic election registers and poll books, which must include operational and security standards.
   The bill requires a county commissioner of elections to hold training for all election personnel before each election, rather than before each primary and general election. The bill also requires the state commissioner of elections to adopt rules for the implementation of required instruction.
   The bill requires a county commissioner of elections to place on file a certification that the office of the commissioner met certain requirements within 20 days after each election. Current law requires that such certifications be filed after a general election. The bill allows the state commissioner of elections to adopt rules requiring county commissioners of elections to provide and certify additional information. The bill strikes a provision requiring a county commissioner of elections to include a copy of a certification along with an election canvass summary report when a county is not required to conduct an audit.
   The bill requires a county commissioner of elections to provide certain information to the state commissioner of elections not later than 10 days before an election, including the date, time, and location of equipment testing, the date and location where the election notice will be published, and the date that election personnel training will be conducted. The bill allows the state commissioner to adopt rules to require that a county commissioner provide and certify additional information.
   The bill strikes a provision allowing election officials to electronically transmit results from voting equipment in the county commissioner of elections’ office after producing a written report of the election results.
   The bill requires the state commissioner of elections, in cooperation with county commissioners of elections, to conduct an unofficial canvass of election results following the closing of polls for regular city, regular school, primary, or general elections, and any other election at the discretion of the state commissioner. Current law requires an unofficial canvass only for general elections. If a county commissioner of elections determines that all precincts will not report results before the office is closed, the bill requires the county commissioner to provide a written explanation as to why. The bill requires the state commissioner to set a date by which a commissioner must complete testing of equipment used for an unofficial canvass.
   The bill requires a recount board to include in its written report following the conclusion of a recount a full tally and accounting of ballots reviewed by the board. The report must allow the county commissioner of elections to correct the canvass of votes in the manner required by law, if applicable. The bill requires the report to be signed by a majority of the recount board and allows the commissioner or the commissioner’s designee to assist in compiling the report. If the report is that the initial abstracts were incorrect, the bill requires the county board to reconvene no later than noon 27 days following an election if the election is for president or vice president.
   The bill removes a requirement that a receipt filled out by a person designated to return a voter’s completed absentee ballot include a statement regarding the time by which the person will return the ballot and the name of the political party, candidate, or committee for which the designee is acting as an actual or implied agent. Code section 53.33 prohibits such a person from delivering a completed absentee ballot. The bill also removes a provision allowing a voter to request that a person collecting an absentee ballot fill out a receipt. Code section 53.33 makes such receipts mandatory.
   The bill requires the county commissioner of elections to prepare a separate absentee ballot style for each precinct in the county and program the voting system to produce reports by the resident precincts of the voters for each primary election.
   The bill updates an internal reference regarding withdrawals of candidates for school district elections.
   The bill changes the meeting date for presidential electors and alternates from the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following the election to the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December next following the election.
   The bill repeals a requirement that the state commissioner of elections adopt by rule standards for the examination and testing of devices for the electronic transmission of election results with the advice of the board of commissioners and that all voting systems containing such devices comply with those standards.