House File 611 - Introduced

HOUSE FILE  	
BY	SCHULTE, DE BOEF, SORENSON, HORBACH, ARNOLD, HEATON, BAUDLER, SODERBERG, ALONS, ANDERSON, SWEENEY, COWNIE, WAGNER, L. MILLER, HELLAND, GRASSLEY, DEYOE, and PETTENGILL

Passed House, Date			Passed Senate, Date  	 Vote:	Ayes	Nays				Vote:	Ayes	Nays  		
Approved  	

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying certain provisions relating to recounts of
public offices and public measures.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
TLSB 2053YH 83
sc/nh/14

PAG LIN

1	1	Section 1.	Section 50.48, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code
1	2 2009, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
1	3	NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.	(4)	Two persons, one from each
1	4 political party, chosen by the commissioner from the election
1	5 board panel drawn up as provided in section 49.15.
1	6	Sec. 2.	Section 50.48, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code
1	7 2009, is amended to read as follows:
1	8	b.	The commissioner shall convene the persons designated
1	9 under paragraph "a", subparagraphs (1) and (2), not later than
1 10 9:00 a.m. on the seventh day following the county board's
1 11 canvass of the election in question.	If those two members
1 12 cannot agree on the third member designated under paragraph
  1 13 "a", subparagraph (3) by 8:00 a.m. on the ninth day following
1 14 the canvass, they shall immediately so notify the chief judge
1 15 of the judicial district in which the canvass is occurring,
1 16 who shall appoint the third such member not later than 5:00
1 17 p.m. on the eleventh day following the canvass.
1 18	Sec. 3.	Section 50.48, subsection 4, Code 2009, is amended
1 19 to read as follows:
1 20	4.	a.	When all members of the recount board have been
1 21 selected, the board shall undertake and complete the required
1 22 recount as expeditiously as reasonably possible.	The
1 23 commissioner or the commissioner's designee shall supervise
1 24 the handling of ballots or voting machine documents to ensure
1 25 that the ballots and other documents are protected from
1 26 alteration or damage.	The board shall open only the sealed
1 27 ballot containers from the precincts specified to be recounted
1 28 in the request or by the recount board.	The board shall
1 29 recount only the ballots which were voted and counted for the
1 30 office in question, including any disputed ballots returned as
1 31 required in section 50.5.	If an electronic automatic
1 32 tabulating system equipment was used to count the ballots, the
1 33 recount board may request shall direct the commissioner to
1 34 retabulate the ballots using the electronic automatic
35 tabulating system equipment.	The same program used for
1 tabulating the votes on election day shall be used at the
2	2 recount unless the program is believed or known to be flawed
2	3 and the suspected or known flaw would affect the retabulation
  2  4 of votes for the office that is the subject of the recount.
2	5 If a voting machine was used, the paper record required in
  2  6 section 52.7, subsection 2, shall be the official record used
  2  7 in the recount.  However, if the commissioner believes or
  2  8 knows that the paper records produced from a machine have been
  2  9 compromised due to damage, mischief, malfunction, or other
  2 10 cause, the printed ballot images produced from the internal
  2 11 audit log for that machine shall be the official record used
  2 12 in the recount.
2 13	b.	Any member of Upon the affirmative vote of at least
  2 14 three members of the recount board, the recount board may at

2 15 any time during the recount proceedings extend the recount of
2 16 votes cast for the office or nomination in question to any
2 17 other precinct or precincts in the same county, or from which
2 18 the returns were reported to the commissioner responsible for
2 19 conducting the election, without the necessity of posting
2 20 additional bond.
2 21	c.	The ballots or voting machine documents shall be
2 22 resealed by the recount board before adjournment and shall be
2 23 preserved as required by section 50.12.	At the conclusion of
2 24 the recount, the recount board shall make and file with the
2 25 commissioner a written report of its findings, which shall be
2 26 signed by at least two three members of the recount board.
2 27 The recount board shall complete the recount and file its
2 28 report not later than the eighteenth day following the county
2 29 board's canvass of the election in question.
2 30	Sec. 4.	Section 50.49, subsection 2, Code 2009, is amended
2 31 by adding the following new paragraph:
2 32	NEW PARAGRAPH.	d.	Two persons, one from each political
2 33 party, chosen by the commissioner from the election board
2 34 panel drawn up as provided in section 49.15.
35	Sec. 5.	Section 50.49, subsection 3, Code 2009, is amended
1 to read as follows:
3	2	3.	The commissioner shall convene the persons designated
3	3 under subsection 2, paragraphs "a" and "b", not later than
3	4 9:00 a.m. on the seventh day following the canvass of the
3	5 election in question.	If those two members cannot agree on
3	6 the third member designated under subsection 2, paragraph "c",
3	7 by 8:00 a.m.	on the ninth day following the canvass, they
3	8 shall immediately notify the chief judge of the judicial
3	9 district in which the canvass is occurring, who shall appoint
3 10 the third such member not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh
3 11 day following the canvass.
3 12	EXPLANATION
3 13	This bill makes changes relating to the recount provisions
3 14 for public offices and, by operation of law, for public
3 15 measures.
3 16	The bill adds two members to the recount board.	The two
3 17 members are persons, one from each political party, chosen by
3 18 the commissioner from the same election board panel from which
3 19 precinct election officials are selected.
3 20	The bill provides that if automatic tabulating equipment
3 21 was used to count the ballots in an election, the recount
3 22 board shall direct, rather than may request, the county
3 23 commissioner of elections to retabulate the ballots using the
3 24 automatic tabulating equipment.	Current law provides that the
3 25 same program for tabulating that was used in the tabulating
3 26 equipment on election day shall be used in the recount unless
3 27 the program is believed or known to be flawed.	The bill
3 28 provides that the suspected or known flaw must be one that
3 29 would affect the retabulation of votes for the office that is
3 30 the subject of the recount.
3 31	Current law provides that any member of the recount board,
3 32 at any time during the recount proceedings, may extend the
3 33 recount of votes to any other precinct in the county.	The
3 34 bill provides that the recount of votes may be extended to any
35 other precinct in the county only upon the affirmative vote of
1 at least three members of the recount board.
4	2	Finally, the bill strikes references to voting machines,
4	3 which are no longer allowed for use in Iowa. 4	4 LSB 2053YH 83
4	5 sc/nh/14