HF 150 (LSB 1296YH (5) 87)

HOUSE FILE 150

BY  SALMON, WHEELER, HAGER, SHEETS, FISHER, GASSMAN, WATTS, HOLT, HEARTSILL, and BAXTER

A BILL FOR

An Act eliminating election day and in-person absentee voter registration.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 39A.2, subsection 1, paragraph a, subparagraph (2), Code 2017, is amended by striking the subparagraph.
    Sec. 2.  Section 48A.9, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. eleven days before each election except general elections. For general elections, registration closes at 5:00 p.m. ten days before the election. An eligible elector may register during the time registration is closed in the elector’s precinct but the registration shall not become effective until registration opens again in the elector’s precinct, except as otherwise provided in section 48A.7A.
    Sec. 3.  Section 48A.14, subsection 4, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  A challenge may be filed at any time. A challenge filed less than seventy days before a regularly scheduled election shall not be processed until after the pending election unless the challenge is filed within twenty days of the commissioner’s receipt of the challenged registrant’s registration form or notice of change to an existing registration. A challenge filed against a person registering to vote pursuant to section 48A.7A is considered a challenge to a person offering to vote and must be filed under section 49.79.
    Sec. 4.  Section 48A.25A, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2017, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 5.  Section 48A.26, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  If the registration form is missing required information pursuant to section 48A.11, subsection 8, the acknowledgment shall advise the applicant what additional information is required. The commissioner shall enclose a new registration form for the applicant to use. If the registration form has no address, the commissioner shall make a reasonable effort to determine where the acknowledgment should be sent. If the incomplete registration form is received during the period in which registration is closed pursuant to section 48A.9 but by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election for general elections or by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election for all other elections, the commissioner shall send a notice advising the applicant of election day and in-person absentee registration procedures under section 48A.7A.
    Sec. 6.  Section 48A.37, subsection 2, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Electronic records shall include a status code designating whether the records are active, inactive, incomplete, pending, or canceled. Inactive records are records of registered voters to whom notices have been sent pursuant to section 48A.28, subsection 3, and who have not returned the card or otherwise responded to the notice, and those records have been designated inactive pursuant to section 48A.29. Inactive records are also records of registered voters to whom notices have been sent pursuant to section 48A.26A prior to July 1, 2017, and who have not responded to the notice. Incomplete records are records missing required information pursuant to section 48A.11, subsection 8. Pending records are records of applicants whose applications have not been verified pursuant to section 48A.25A. Canceled records are records that have been canceled pursuant to section 48A.30. All other records are active records. An inactive record shall be made active when the registered voter requests an absentee ballot, votes at an election, registers again, or reports a change of name, address, telephone number, or political party or organization affiliation. An incomplete record shall be made active when a completed application is received from the applicant and verified pursuant to section 48A.25A. A pending record shall be made active upon verification or upon the voter providing identification pursuant to section 48A.8.
    Sec. 7.  Section 49.11, subsection 3, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  Establish voting centers for the regular city election, city primary election, city runoff election, regular school election, and special elections. Any registered voter who is eligible to vote in the regular city election may vote at any voting center in the city. Any registered voter who is eligible to vote at the regular school election may vote at any voting center in the school district. Any registered voter who is eligible to vote in a special election may vote at any voting center established for that special election. For purposes of section 48A.7A, a voting center shall be considered the polling place for the precinct in which a person resides.
    Sec. 8.  Section 49.77, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 2017, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 9.  Section 49.79, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  The challenged person is not a resident at the address where the person is registered. However, a person who is reporting a change of address at the polls on election day pursuant to section 48A.27, subsection 2, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (3), or who is registering to vote pursuant to section 48A.7A, shall not be challenged for this reason.
    Sec. 10.  Section 53.2, subsection 6, Code 2017, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  If an application for an absentee ballot is received from an eligible elector who is not a registered voter the commissioner shall send the eligible elector a voter registration form and another absentee ballot application form. If the application is received after the time registration closes pursuant to section 48A.9 but by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election for general elections or by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election for all other elections, the commissioner shall notify the applicant by mail of the election day and in-person absentee registration provisions of section 48A.7A. In addition to notification by mail, the commissioner shall also attempt to contact the applicant by any other method available to the commissioner. If the application is received so late that it is unlikely that the registration form can be returned in time to be effective on election day, the commissioner shall enclose with the absentee ballot a notice to that effect, informing the eligible elector of the registration time limits in section 48A.9.
    Sec. 11.  REPEAL.  Sections 48A.7A and 48A.26A, Code 2017, are 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 eliminates election day and in-person absentee registration, also known as same-day voter registration, and restores earlier provisions related to voter registration.