A recount for any public measure shall be ordered by the board of canvassers if a petition requesting a recount is filed with the county commissioner not later than three days after the completion of the canvass of votes for the election at which the question appeared on the ballot. The petition shall be signed by the greater of not less than ten eligible electors or a number of eligible electors equaling one percent of the total number of votes cast upon the public measure. Each petitioner must be a person who was entitled to vote on the public measure in question or would have been so entitled if registered to vote.
The recount shall be conducted by a board which shall consist of:
1. A designee named in the petition requesting the recount.
2. A designee named by the commissioner at or before the time the board is required to convene.
3. A person chosen jointly by the members designated under subsections 1 and 2.
The commissioner shall convene the persons designated under subsections 1 and 2 not later than nine a.m. on the seventh day following the canvass of the election in question. If those two members cannot agree on the third member by eight a.m. on the ninth day following the canvass, they shall immediately notify the chief judge of the judicial district in which the canvass is occurring, who shall appoint the third member not later than five p.m. on the eleventh day following the canvass.
The petitioners requesting the recount shall post a bond as required by section 50.48, subsection 2. The amount of the bond shall be one thousand dollars for a public measure appearing on the ballot statewide or one hundred dollars for any other public measure. If the difference between the affirmative and negative votes cast on the public measure is less than the greater of fifty votes or one percent of the total number of votes cast for and against the question, a bond is not required. If approval by sixty percent of the votes cast is required for adoption of the public measure, no bond is required if the difference between sixty percent of the total votes cast for and against the question and the number of votes cast for the losing side is less than the greater of fifty votes or one percent of the total number of votes cast.
The procedure for the recount shall follow the provisions of section 50.48, subsections 4 through 7, as far as possible.
95 Acts, ch 189, §14; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §48, 115
2002 amendment to unnumbered paragraph 4 takes effect January 1, 2003, and applies to elections held on or after that date; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §115
Previous Section 50.48
Next Section 50.50
© 2003 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa
Comments about this site or page?
webmaster@legis.iowa.gov.
Please remember that the person listed above does not vote on bills. Direct all comments concerning legislation to State Legislators.
Last update: Tue Jan 28 13:52:42 CST 2003
URL: /DOCS/IACODE/2003/50/49.html
jhf