Elections, Ethics and Campaign Finance Legislation

HOUSE FILE 2009 City and County Assessors - Candidacy for Elective Public Office

HOUSE FILE 2409 Election Misconduct

HOUSE FILE 2472 Elections and Voter Registration

HOUSE FILE 2538 Campaign Finance Regulation

Related Legislation

SENATE FILE 2048 Project Labor Agreements Prohibited - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR

SENATE FILE 2275 Substantive Code Corrections

HOUSE FILE 2183 School District Boards of Directors - Size and Method of Election

HOUSE FILE 2009 - City and County Assessors - Candidacy for Elective Public Office Full Text of Bill
By Grundberg.

This Act allows a city or county assessor to run for elective office during the assessor's term of appointment as assessor, and provides that if the assessor is elected to a city or county office, a statewide elective office, or the General Assembly, the assessor must resign as assessor before taking office.

The Act takes effect April 8, 2002.

HOUSE FILE 2409 - Election Misconduct Full Text of Bill
By Jacobs.

This Act corrects internal inconsistencies in the Code relating to election misconduct and creates new Code Chapter 39A to contain the criminal provisions relating to violations of election laws and the penalties applicable to those violations. The Act establishes four levels of criminal election misconduct, with penalties ranging from simple misdemeanor to class "D" felony penalties. Specific references to criminal provisions and penalties in the current Code are restated in the new Code chapter and eliminated from existing Code.

The Act changes the penalties for some violations. The Act makes the violation of communicating the vote count prior to the closing of the polls a simple misdemeanor, where previously no specific penalty was provided for such a violation. The Act makes it a serious misdemeanor for a candidate to use influence on behalf of another in obtaining a position in exchange for support during the election. Previously, violation of this section was subject to the general penalty provisions in Code Chapter 49 ("Methods of Conducting Elections"), which made it a simple misdemeanor.

The Act upgrades various prohibited acts on election day from simple to serious misdemeanors. The penalty for willfully failing to perform duties or falsifying documents relating to precinct caucuses is also changed from a simple misdemeanor to a serious misdemeanor.

The Act changes the penalty for certain misconduct by election officials from a serious misdemeanor to an aggravated misdemeanor. This specifically includes misconduct by an election official causing a voter to vote contrary to the voter's wishes or changing a ballot or causing a vote to be recorded contrary to the voter's intention.

The Act makes fraudulently registering to vote, giving false information when registering to vote, or coercing someone to register or to not register to vote a class "D" felony. The current Code makes such misconduct an aggravated misdemeanor. Bribery of voters or of election officials, or bribery during the election process in general, is changed from serious or aggravated misdemeanors to class "D" felonies. The Act also changes to a class "D" felony from a serious misdemeanor the charges of voting more than once in an election or voting when knowing oneself not to be qualified.

HOUSE FILE 2472 - Elections and Voter Registration Full Text of Bill
By Committee on State Government.

This Act makes a number of changes to the election laws of Iowa. Code Chapter 39 is amended to do the following:

• Prohibit holding other elections at the same time as a city primary or runoff election.
• Define the terms "written" and "in writing" for purposes of election law.
• Require all candidates for public office to be eligible electors at the time of election.
• Require all elected officials, except members of the General Assembly, U.S. Senators, and U.S. Representatives, to be eligible electors and residents of the jurisdiction they are elected to represent. Code Chapter 43 is amended to do the following:
• Remove from the Code archaic and repetitive language currently required to appear on nomination petitions and provide that the State Commissioner of Elections (Secretary of State) shall prescribe the form for the petition, listing the information that must be included. Standards for evaluating nomination papers are also expanded to incorporate current practices in the state commissioner's office.
• Change an incorrect reference from the municipal election to the city primary election as it relates to the deadline for filing objections to nomination petitions or certificates of nomination.
• Permit the county commissioner of elections to code ballots by color for the primary election.
• Provide canvass procedures for each type of voting system in use in the state.
• Voting system printouts to the information required to be available to the public during the time period between the primary election and the county canvass of votes.

Code Sections 43.114, 43.118, 394.2, 400.1, and 400.3 are amended to change "municipal election," "regular municipal election," or "municipal primary election" to "regular city election" or "city primary election."

Code Section 44.4 is amended to conform this section to other filing deadlines for the same election.

Code Sections 45.5 and 45.6 are amended to provide specific requirements for the form of nomination petitions and standards for their review and rejection. Redundant language is removed from Code Section 45.3. These are similar to the requirements of Code Chapter 43 for primary elections.

Code Sections 48A.2, 48A.9, 48A.10, 48A.14, 48A.30, 602.8102, and 633.556 are amended to remove from the definition of "mentally incompetent to vote" persons with mental illness who are under guardianship.

Code Chapter 48A is also amended to do the following:

• Provide that if registration for the next following regularly scheduled election closes on the day after Thanksgiving, the deadline for registering to vote for that election shall be the following Monday.
• Provide that a person who has power of attorney does not have authority to sign a voter registration form for a registrant unless the registrant is disabled and the form is signed at the request of the registrant and in the presence of the registrant.
• Provide that, in elections on annexations, if a city is divided into wards, the detailed map required must show the ward designations for the annexed territory.
• Require that voters show a form of identification to prove identity, rather than to prove residence, before being allowed to vote.
• Specify that the form and language of a voter registration confirmation notice shall be prescribed by rule.
• Correspond with a prior change in the law that made county recorders responsible for maintaining records of deaths in the county for purposes of canceling voter registration.
• Require the county commissioner of registration and the state registrar to remove a voter's social security number from voter registration lists requested by the public or by political parties.

Code Chapter 49 is amended to do the following:

• Require the county commissioner to post a sign at the entrance to the polling place indicating the precinct number or name and displaying a street map showing the boundaries of the precinct.
• Allow separate ballots for township offices in precincts using electronic voting systems.
• Require that the position of names of candidates for nonpartisan offices on the general election ballot be drawn by lot.
• Require that a published sample ballot cannot reduce upper case letters in candidates' names or in summaries of public measures to less than 90 percent of the size of such letters on the actual ballot (49.53).
• Remove the size specifications for the voting target on paper ballots (49.51).
• Require that, for general elections, the county commissioner shall deliver to each precinct at least 55 ballots for every 50 ballots cast in the same general election held four years previous (49.64).
• Change the title of the instructions posted in the polling places from "Card of Instructions" to "Instructions for Voters" (49.70).
• Permit the county commissioner to shorten voting hours for cities under 3,500 population and for the unincorporated areas voting on local option sales tax elections (49.73), and provide that all polling places voting on a local option sales tax shall have the same hours.
• Specify that a registered voter, rather than an elector, may challenge a voter as unqualified (49.79).
• Changes the form of the notice issued to a challenged voter to provide for the fact that not all meetings of the special precinct board will convene at the same time (49.81).
• Provide that the requirement that the voter enter the voting booth alone does not prohibit the voter from taking minor children into the voting booth (49.84 and 49.88).
• Provide that if a voter marks a straight party or organization ticket and also marks the voting targets next to the names of one or more candidates for any office, only the votes cast separately for individual candidates for that office shall be counted (49.96).
• Allow the county commissioner of elections to determine how long to conduct training courses for precinct officials and other persons who will be employed around polling places on election day (49.124). Under prior law, the county commissioner was limited to providing no more than two hours of training.

Code Chapter 50 is amended to do the following:

• Permit electronic transmission of election results from the precinct to the courthouse. require the state commissioner to adopt rules, and require the board of examiners to approve the transmission devices.
• Explicitly state that sealed ballot packages may not be opened except for a recount, election contest, or to destroy the ballots (50.12).
• Provide that if a recount is requested for an office to which more than one person was elected, the question of whether a bond is required to be filed shall be calculated based on the difference between the number of votes cast for the person requesting the recount and the number of votes cast for the apparent winner receiving the fewest votes (50.48).
• Provide a formula for recount bond calculations for public measure elections requiring 60 percent approval (50.49).
• Add counting errors reported by the precinct election officials to the reasons for calling for an administrative recount (50.50).

• Remove references to punch card voting (52.1, 52.25, 52.26, 52.27, 52.28, 52.29, 52.33, and 52.35). Code Section 52.30 is repealed for the same reason.
• Provide that a punch card voting system shall not be approved for use in Iowa (52.26).
• Allow two couriers to pick up ballots for central county precincts (52.37). The two couriers must be of two different political parties if the ballot contains partisan offices. The section is also amended to provide that, in nonpartisan elections, precinct election officials are not required to be members of any political party or of different political parties.
• Provide that all devices for the electronic transmission of election results submitted for examination after July 1, 2003, be approved by the state commissioner with the advice of the Board of Examiners for Voting Machines and Electronic Voting Systems (new Code Section 52.41).

Code Chapter 53 is amended to do the following:

• Require the inclusion of secrecy envelopes with absentee ballots delivered to voters unless the ballot can be folded to conceal all of the voter's marks (53.8).
• Make a complete reference to the absentee and special voters precinct board (53.18).
• Remove the requirement that a voter who requested, but did not receive, an absentee ballot sign an affidavit to that effect before being allowed to cast a special ballot (53.19).
• Provide that the absentee and special voters precinct board must seal the ballots after counting, and specify that all envelopes and other documents must be preserved (53.30).
• Permit the federal postcard registration and absentee ballot request form to be used as a voter registration form in Iowa (53.38). Under prior law, members of the military and Iowa citizens who are overseas register to vote when they cast absentee ballots. This amendment permits the commissioner to add these voters to the registration rolls before the election if sufficient information was supplied on the federal postcard registration and absentee ballot request form. Military and overseas voters may request ballots for all elections held in a calendar year.
• Require the commissioner of the overseas voter's county of residence to forward a copy of a voter's request for an absentee ballot to any other commissioner who may conduct an election in which the person is qualified to vote (53.40).

New Code Section 53.10 is enacted to separate those Code provisions providing for absentee voting in the county commissioner's office from the provisions for satellite absentee voting in Code Section 53.11. The new section prohibits electioneering within 30 feet of the courthouse during absentee voting. This prohibition currently applies only to satellite absentee voting stations. The Act makes corresponding amendments to Code Section 53.11.

Code Section 57.1 is amended to add to the list of grounds for contesting an election that the question or office was not authorized or required by law to be voted upon at the election in question.

Code Chapter 60 is amended to do the following:

• Shorten from 10 days after the state canvass to two days after the state canvass the time in which a contestant has to file a statement of contest and serve notice of the contest on the apparent winner (60.4).
• Reduce from three to two days the time in which the clerk of court must fix a date for organization of the contest court (60.5). Prior law required that the contest court render a judgment before notice of the contest is made and before the contest court is required to organize.

Code Sections 62.5 and 62.8, relating to the requirements for filing a statement to contest an election, are repealed and replaced with new Code Section 62.5A. The new section also provides that the deadline for contesting an election if a recount changes the result is 20 days after the winner of the recount is declared.

Code Section 63.8 is amended to provide that persons elected or appointed to fill vacancies, or who are holding over to fill vacancies, must qualify for the vacant office within 10 days of the county board's canvass of the election or within 10 days of appointment.

Code Chapter 69 is amended to do the following:

• Provide a method for determining and declaring a vacancy in a local appointive or elective office (69.2).
• Prohibit vacancies in office being filled at the primary election (69.12). Other provisions of the Code specify that partisan offices are filled at the general election or at special elections. The section is also amended to correct an internal reference in the Code relating to the candidate filing deadlines for city offices in cities with a primary election.
• Prohibit filling a vacancy in a county office at a special election held between the primary and the general election if a nomination to fill that office was made at the primary election (69.14A).

Code Chapter 275 is amended to do the following:

• Require that the director district boundaries, if districts are drawn, of a newly formed or reorganized school district be drawn after the election making the changes and be submitted to the state commissioner for approval (275.12). Prior law provided that citizen petitioners draw the director district boundaries.
• Make the candidate nomination petition requirement of new school districts the same as for established school districts (275.25).
• Remove the question of approval of director district boundaries from the election or the question of whether a school district should change its method of electing directors (275.35 and 275.36). Director or district boundaries must be drawn or redrawn after the election approving the change in boundaries. The sections are also amended to require approval of the new boundaries by the state commissioner.
• Provide a process for the transition from five school board members to seven and from seven school board members to five ( 275.37 and new Code Section 275.37A).
• Allow the county commissioner to include with the summary of the question on the ballot a map showing the new school district boundaries of school districts to which portions of a dissolved district are to be attached if approved at the election (275.55).
• Provide a process for attachment of territory received by a school district when an adjacent school district dissolves (new Code Section 275.57).

Code Sections 277.23 and 278.1 are amended to make the provisions of Code Section 275.37 relating to implementation of a change to increase the number of director districts applicable to all changes increasing the membership of school boards. Code Section 277.23 is also amended to require that a school district with all of a city with a population of 15,000 or more located in the district must have seven directors on the school board. Prior law required seven directors if only a part of a city with a population of 15,000 or more is located in the district.

Code Section 279.6 is amended to provide that the deadline for submission of a resignation if the office is to appear on the ballot at the next regular school election is not later than 45 days before the election.

>Code Section 296.3 is amended to require that, within 10 days after receiving a petition for a bond election, the president of the school board call a meeting of the board to set an election date. The meeting must be held within 30 days of receipt of the petition. If more than one petition is received, the board must consider them in the order they were received.

Code Section 331.207 is amended to revise the schedule for special elections to change the method of electing members of the county board of supervisors. The amendment requires that the petition be filed by June 1, that the election be held within 60 days after filing of the petition, and that a plan be drawn by September 15. Prior law required that all of these requirements be fulfilled between January and February.

Code Section 331.651 is amended to provide that, in the case of a vacancy in the office of county sheriff, the first deputy sheriff shall hold the office of sheriff until a successor is appointed or elected. Prior law provided only that the deputy serve until another sheriff is appointed.

Code Sections 336.2, 336.16 and 336.18 are amended to move the filing deadline for petitions to establish or terminate a county library district from 40 days before the general election to 82 days before the general election. The sections are also amended to strike the provision permitting the question to establish or terminate a county library district to be placed on the primary election ballot.

Code Section 346.27 is amended to strike the provision permitting the question of issuance of county bonds and conveyance of title to property to be placed on the primary election ballot.

Code Section 359.17 is amended to require that townships with a taxable valuation of $250 million or more be represented by five township trustees rather than three trustees.

Code Section 372.9 is amended to provide that the full text of a proposed home rule charter or alternative form of government proposal and the date of the election on the charter or alternative form must be included in the published notice of the election.

Code Section 372.13 is amended to require the city council of a city with a primary election to notify the county commissioner of elections of the date of a special election to fill a vacancy in a city office at least 85 days before the date chosen.

Code Section 376.2 is amended to require that a special election to change the length of the terms of elected city officers be held more than 90 days before the regular city election if the changed terms are to be effective for offices filled at that election.

Code Section 376.6 is amended to change the deadline for city clerks to notify the county auditor of the type of nomination process to be used for city elections. The amendment changes the deadline from 77 days before the election to 90 days before the election.

Code Section 422A.1 is amended to refer to the regular city election, rather than the city general election.

Code Section 422E.2 is amended to provide that election costs for a school infrastructure sales tax shall be apportioned among the school districts in the county in the ratio of the number of registered voters in each school district residing in the county to the total number of registered voters in the county.

The Act takes effect January 1, 2003, and applies to elections held on or after that date.

HOUSE FILE 2538 - Campaign Finance Regulation Full Text of Bill
By Committee on State Government.

This Act raises the candidate fund-raising reporting threshold of $500 to $750. The Code provides that unless a candidate or political committee has already formally organized, the committee is deemed to have organized once it passes this financial threshold. Every committee must file a statement of organization within 10 days of organization.

The Act also provides for a five-year document retention period for reports filed with the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board, provides that the board is the primary filing point for all campaign reports, and requires the board to send copies of reports for political subdivisions to the appropriate county auditor who serves as the local commissioner of elections. In relation to this change, the Act amends several Code sections to remove references to filing documents with these commissioners. These changes take effect January 1, 2003. The remainder of the Act takes effect April 4, 2002.

Finally, the Act removes the signature requirement from the Code for committees not organized in Iowa that make a contribution to a committee organized in Iowa.

SENATE FILE 2048 - Project Labor Agreements Prohibited - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR
SEE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT.
   This bill would have prohibited the disbursement of moneys from the Vision Iowa Fund to any public contracting entity that requires certain labor-related agreements for a public works project.

SENATE FILE 2275 - Substantive Code Corrections
SEE STATE GOVERNMENT.
   This Act contains statutory corrections that adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omissions, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities. Changes made in the area of elections, ethics, and campaign finance include correcting a reference to the Bureau of Vital Records in a provision relating to the transmission of a list of all reported deaths of persons age 17 1/2 years and older to the State Registrar of Voters; eliminating a portion of the definition of the term "express advocacy" and a prohibition relating to the placement of political yard signs in the Campaign Finance chapter; changing the phrase "county or city auditor" to "county auditor or city clerk" in provisions relating to local elections held on the question of withdrawal from a county library district; clarifying language relating to petitions regarding the issuance of bonds for storm water drainage and bonds secured by revenues derived from the local hotel and motel tax; and a technical change in language relating to notice of the results of the election on the question of imposition of a local option tax.

HOUSE FILE 2183 - School District Boards of Directors - Size and Method of Election
SEE EDUCATION.
   This Act authorizes the board of directors of a school district, following a federal decennial census, to change the number of directors to either five or seven, or to change the method of election, by resolution after the board conducts a public hearing on the resolution. The Act provides for a reverse referendum. The Act takes effect March 21, 2002.