1997 SUMMARY OF LEGISLATION

ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE

ELECTIONS, ETHICS & CAMPAIGN FINANCE LEGISLATION

HOUSE FILE 636 - Elections (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act makes a number of changes to the election laws of Iowa.
New Code Section 39.1A prohibits county auditors from conducting elections that are not specifically authorized or required by state law. This provision takes effect May 19, 1997.
Code Sections 43.6, 43.79, 49.58, and 69.13 are amended to provide that a vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor shall be filled by appointment by the Governor. A vacancy on the ballot for that office shall be filled by nomination by the state convention of the candidate's party.
Code Section 43.73 is amended to strike language that authorizes the Secretary of State to prescribe party order on the ballot. Code Section 49.31 gives that authority to the county auditors.
Code Sections 43.88 and 44.4 are amended to change the candidate filing deadline for special elections held to fill vacancies in county offices from 20 to 25 days before the election to allow more time to print ballots.
Code Section 43.116 is amended to add a provision to specify a method for partisan nominations for special city elections to fill vacancies in offices in special charter cities. The recommended change, nomination by convention, parallels similar provisions for other partisan special elections.
Code Section 44.11 is amended to provide that a substitution for a nonparty political organization candidate who withdraws from a partisan election may be made if the candidate withdraws before the statutory withdrawal deadlines for such candidates.
New Code Section 44.17 is enacted to provide that a nonparty political organization may nominate a candidate for partisan office by petition in lieu of nomination by caucus or convention and allows a nonparty political organization to provide for the substitution of a candidate in an election if procedures for such substitution are filed with the county commissioner of elections before the close of the nomination petition filing deadline.
New Code Section 47.4 provides that filings pertaining to an election, the deadline for which falls on a day the county or State Commissioner of Elections Office is closed for business, shall be filed on the next day that the office of county or State Commissioner is open for business to receive the filing. The section does not apply to the deadline for voter registration.
Code Section 47.5 is amended to strike the requirement that county commissioner of elections' bid specifications be filed with the State Commissioner of Elections.
Code Section 47.6 is amended to require that notice of a special election which will be held in conjunction with a previously scheduled special election be given not later than the last day to file nomination papers for the previously scheduled special election.
Code Section 48A.22 is amended to strike the requirement that the Secretary of State sell mail voter registration forms and that they be sold at the cost of production. The amended language requires the Secretary of State to provide registration forms without specifying the kind. Code Section 52.35, and by reference Code Section 52.38, are amended to eliminate the requirement that voting equipment test results be certified to the Secretary of State. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA), which became effective January 1, 1995, requires mailing of some documents, but does not specifically require that they be sent by first class mail. Code Sections 48A.26 through 48A.29 are amended to strike the first class mailing requirement. Code Section 48A.27 is also amended to eliminate the requirement that a mail registration form be provided to people who have moved from one county to another within Iowa.
Code Section 49.13 is amended to permit the county commissioner of elections to appoint two people of different political parties to serve as co-chairpersons of the precinct election board. This provision takes effect May 19, 1997.
Code Section 49.16 is amended to prohibit a precinct election official, who has changed party affiliation from the party that designated the official, from working at the polls as a designee of the party with which the official was formerly registered. This provision takes effect May 19, 1997.
Code Sections 49.20 and 49.125 are amended to provide that the board of supervisors shall set the mileage rate for election workers. Currently, they are paid at the rate set for state employees.
Code Section 49.25 is amended to require that ballot boxes be locked during the receiving of ballots, except during early ballot pickup activities and when opened by the counting board charged with tabulating votes in paper ballot precincts during the hours when the polls are open. This amendment also adds secrecy sleeves to the equipment needed at the polls. Secrecy sleeves are needed for use with machine-read ballots that cannot be folded to conceal the voter's marks. Code Section 52.40 is amended to allow precinct election officials to seal the ballot box at early ballot pick-up sites at a convenient time and to open a second ballot box when it is convenient. The early pick-up officers would no longer be required to do these tasks. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
Code Section 49.26, which relates to ballot marking instructions, is reworded to permit the use of machine-read ballots, even if ballots will be counted by hand.
Code Section 49.27 is repealed and incorporated into Code Section 49.30 so that all information about what can be placed on a separate ballot is now in a single Code section organized according to the three general types of voting equipment used in Iowa. The section specifies the circumstances under which separate ballots may be used for each type of voting equipment. Code Section 49.30 is amended to add to the list of offices that may be printed on a separate paper ballot in voting machine precincts, all nonpartisan offices listed in Code Section 39.21 (regional library trustees, county public hospital trustees, soil and water district conservation commissioners, and county agricultural extension councils). The amendment also allows separate paper ballots in precincts that incorporate more than one township if any of the townships elects its township officers.
Code Section 49.31, relating to the arrangement of names on the ballot, is amended to provide that the names of candidates shall be listed below the title of the office and, for partisan offices, above the name of the political party or nonparty political organization which nominated the candidate. The amendment provides that the county commissioner shall determine the order of political parties and nonparty political organizations on the ballot and each ballot used in the county shall be identical.
Code Section 49.33 is amended to revise the description of the space where the voter indicates a choice for paired offices and provides that write-in votes will no longer be tabulated separately for the offices of President and Vice President and Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Code Section 49.35, relating to the order of arranging tickets on the ballot, is amended to pertain to lever voting machine ballots only.
Code Section 49.37 is amended to eliminate the requirement that ballots be arranged in columns or rows by political party or nonparty political organization. It also requires that the first section of partisan ballots be reserved for straight party voting, then political parties or nonparty political organizations which have nominated candidates for more than one office, then political parties or organizations which have nominated candidates for only one office. The amendment also requires that the ballot shall contain instructions for straight party voting. Code Section 52.12 is amended to require that voting machines have a single lever or switch to make a straight party vote.
Code Section 49.42 is repealed and new Code Section 49.42A is enacted to prescribe the form for general election ballots.
Code Section 49.43 is amended to provide that, if possible, all public measures and constitutional amendments shall be placed on a single special paper ballot. The special ballot shall also include all offices to be voted upon.
Code Section 49.44 is amended to require that a summary of a proposed constitutional amendment or other public measure be placed on the ballot immediately before the full text of the amendment or measure on special paper ballots. If the full text of the amendment or measure will not fit on the ballot, it shall be posted inside the voting booth and included with absentee ballots. Code Section 49.46, relating to marking ballots on public measures, is amended to provide for making the appropriate mark on special paper ballots. Code Section 49.92 updates the voting mark descriptions and targets to account for the use of a voting system other than the paper ballot system.
Code Section 49.45 is amended to prescribe more specifically the general form of ballots containing constitutional amendments or other public measures. Code Section 49.47, relating to the notice or voting instructions for ballots containing a constitutional amendment or public measure, is amended to apply to all types of ballots, including special paper ballots, and allows the notice to be adapted, where appropriate.
Code Section 49.57 is amended to provide for the inclusion of party names with the names of candidates in the new office block ballot plan, add to the ballot preparation instructions a requirement that office title indicate if an office appears on the ballot to fill a vacancy, change the type of specifications from fractions of inches to point size, and strike the requirement that ballot paper be white, because some voting systems use off-white card stock.
Code Sections 49.94 and 49.95 are amended to change voting target description and voting mark description to include variations allowed by optical scan voting systems. Code Section 52.33 is amended to require the absentee and special precinct board to follow the same procedure as the central count resolution board when tabulating optical scan ballots. This permits the board to make a duplicate of a damaged or unreadable ballot and include the duplicate ballot in the machine count.
Code Section 49.104 is amended to add persons conducting and attending educational voting programs for youth to the statutory list of persons permitted at polling places.
Code Section 50.13 is amended to remove the requirement that representatives of the political parties appointed by the board of supervisors attend the destruction of ballots. The amendment allows the chairperson of the political parties to designate a person to attend, but does not require attendance.
Code Section 50.48 is amended to allow the envelope containing ballots counted without the unanimous agreement of the precinct election officials to be delivered to the recount board. The function of recounts is to reexamine the tabulation of votes at an election. Currently, these ballots are returned to the auditor as "disputed ballots." The Act also requires that the tabulating program used on election day be used in the recount. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
New Code Section 50.50 is enacted to allow for administrative recounts in an election where the commissioner responsible for conducting the election suspects a programming error in the voting equipment and the commissioner requests the recount.
Code Section 52.10 is amended to provide that lists of candidates of a political party or nonparty political organization may be arranged in horizontal rows or vertical columns if necessary to meet the physical requirements of the voting machine used.
Code Section 52.36 is amended to require resolution boards to divide into two-person bipartisan teams. Resolution boards tabulate write-in votes and decide questions regarding ballots that cannot be tabulated by the machine. Resolution boards are currently required to divide into teams of three people. Code Section 52.37, relating to tabulation of electronic voting system ballots, is amended to allow the county commissioner of elections to instruct the resolution board to mark over voters' marks unreadable by the machine, if possible, or to duplicate the ballot. Code Section 52.38 is amended to eliminate the requirement that portable tabulating devices be tested at the polling place where they are to be used. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
Code Section 53.2 is amended, effective May 19, 1997, to prohibit mailing an application for an absentee ballot to an address other than the county auditor or to an address designated by the auditor. New Code Section 53.9 is enacted to prohibit any person required to file campaign finance disclosure reports from receiving absentee ballots on behalf of voters before the ballots are voted.
Code Section 53.11 is amended to change the filing deadline for petitions requesting establishment of absentee satellite voting stations. The Act changes the deadline from 11 days before all elections to 47 days before a primary or general election, 30 days before a city or school election, and 32 days before a special election. The section is also amended to require that a satellite absentee voting station be open at least one day for six hours before the election. Formerly, the requirement had been one day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Code Section 53.19 is amended, effective May 19, 1997, to allow voters to surrender marked or unmarked absentee ballots on election day and vote unchallenged at the polls.
Code Section 53.23 is amended to allow the board before election day to open sealed ballot envelopes and remove the secrecy envelopes containing absentee ballots. Two observers, one from each political party, must witness the ballot envelopes being opened.
Code Section 54.5 is amended to provide for substitution of candidates in a presidential election. A substitution is to be made by the state central committee of the party or by the governing committee of the national party. However, if there are differences, the state central committee substitution prevails. Nonparty political organizations may also substitute candidates in a presidential election.
Currently, no statutory provision exists for contesting a special election to fill a vacancy in the General Assembly. Code Section 59.1 is amended to add a method for contesting the outcome of a special election while the General Assembly is in session. The contestant would file a notice of contest with the Speaker of the House of Representatives or with the President of the Senate, as appropriate, not more than 20 days after the canvass of votes.
Code Sections 62.1 and 62.2 are amended to change the contest court chairperson from the chairperson of the county board of supervisors to a third person mutually agreed to by the judges selected by the incumbent and the contestant. Code Section 62.9 is amended to strike the limitation that the contest court may not begin for at least 20 days after the election. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
Code Sections 69.14A and 372.13 are amended to strike the words "whichever is later" from the description of the filing period for a petition requesting a special election to fill a vacancy on the county board of supervisors. The appointment will always be later than the publication of the notice of intent to appoint. Code Section 69.14A is also amended to change the notice of election to fill a vacancy from 30 to 32 days, to be consistent with other special election notice requirements. Thirty days before a Tuesday election always falls on a Sunday. This amendment moves the deadline back to the preceding Friday. These provisions take effect May 19, 1997.
Code Section 277.4 is amended to specify the minimum signature requirements for school board candidates. This provision takes effect May 19, 1997. Code Section 278.1 is amended to permit the voters to authorize a change in the method of conducting school elections, or in the number of directors provided in reorganized school districts. The provision in Code Section 278.1, subsection 8, allowing voters to redraw the director district boundaries at an election, is stricken. Director district boundaries are drawn after the census on the basis of population.
Code Sections 347.11 and 347A.1 are amended to provide that county hospital boards of trustees shall take the oath of office the first day of January which is not a Sunday or legal holiday. The Act also provides that action taken by a hospital board of trustees prior to July 1, 1997, shall not be considered invalid merely because the oath of office was not executed within the time period provided by the Act.
Code Section 372.2 is amended to specify the timing of a city special election date. The amendment requires publication of intent to hold a special election on adoption of another form of government and notice that citizens may petition for appointment of a home rule charter commission, thereby delaying the election on adoption of another form of government. Code Section 372.3 is amended to establish a deadline for filing a petition for appointment of a home rule charter commission. Filing this petition will stay a special election on adoption of another form of government. Currently, no deadline for filing the petition is prescribed.
Code Section 376.4 is amended to extend from 47 days to 68 days the candidate filing deadline for candidates in city elections where the city is required to hold a primary election. A city may provide by ordinance to hold runoff elections or to allow nominations of candidates in the same manner as nonpolitical party organizations. In the absence of either ordinance, a city is required to hold a primary election if the number of candidates filing valid nomination petitions for an office is at least twice the number of positions to be filled.
Code Section 376.10 is amended to change the contest court chairperson for city elections from the mayor to a third person mutually agreed to by the judges selected by the incumbent and the contestant, as provided in Code Chapter 62, as amended in this Act.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 193 -- Elections in Special Land Use Districts

(Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT)

This Act changes the annual elections for the trustees of special land use districts from the second Tuesday in September to a date agreed to by the county auditor and the trustees.

SENATE FILE 529 -- Appropriations — Administration and Regulation

(Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS)

This Act appropriates $82,212,000 from the General Fund of the State and $17,509,337 from other funds for FY 1997-1998 to state departments, agencies and interstate and national entities and transfers funding and personnel for statewide voter registration from the Department of General Services and the Office of Secretary of State.

HOUSE FILE 680 -- Election of Mayors in Certain Cities

(Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT)

This Act allows a city a one-time opportunity to stagger the term of office of mayor in relation to the election of city council members.
The Act takes effect May 1, 1997.

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