ELECTIONS, ETHICS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE

SENATE FILE 357 - City Hospital or Health Care Facility Trustees - Residency - Vacancies
HOUSE FILE 583 - Government Ethics Disclosure Reports - Expenditures on Gifts and by Lobbyists' Clients
HOUSE FILE 601 - Campaign Finance - Miscellaneous Provisions
HOUSE FILE 614 - Election Laws Changes - EXTRAORDINARY SESSION - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR
H.J.R. 3 - Proposed Constitutional Amendment - Qualification of Electors

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 97 - Transportation and Transportation-Related Regulation

SEE TRANSPORTATION. This Act repeals inoperative Code provisions regulating the placement of political signs on private property. The signs are now regulated as advertising signs.

SENATE FILE 155 - Substantive Code Corrections

SEE STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act contains statutory corrections that include changes relating to the conducting of elections, campaign finance reporting, and increases in the number of directors on a school board.

SENATE FILE 230 - City Councils - Reductions in Membership

SEE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act provides that city councils of cities with less than 500 population may, by resolution, reduce the size of the city council from five to three members. The Act takes effect April 28, 2003.

SENATE FILE 272 - County, City, and School Contracts - Prohibited Interest Exceptions

SEE LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act relates to conflicts of interest involving public contracts by persons who hold certain public offices or employment, such as members of school boards, and city and county officers and employees.

ELECTIONS, ETHICS AND CAMPAIGN FINANCE

SENATE FILE 357 - City Hospital or Health Care Facility Trustees - Residency - Vacancies (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act makes changes relating to election of the board of trustees of a city hospital or city health care facility. The Act requires that a candidate for the office of hospital or health care facility trustee be a resident of the hospital or health care facility service area at the time of the election at which the person's name appears on the ballot. The Act provides that a vacancy on a hospital or health care facility board of trustees may be filled by appointment by the remaining members of the board unless a petition requesting a special election to fill the vacancy is filed within 14 days after the appointment is made.

HOUSE FILE 583 - Government Ethics Disclosure Reports - Expenditures on Gifts and by Lobbyists' Clients (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON ETHICS. This Act requires a lobbyist's client to file reports with the General Assembly and the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board on or before July 1 of each year, and requires sponsors of receptions during regular sessions of the General Assembly to which every member of the General Assembly is invited to file disclosure reports with the board, the Secretary of the Senate, and the Chief Clerk of the House, itemizing the total amount expended on food, beverage and entertainment for the reception within five days following the date of the reception. Food, beverage and entertainment received by public employees at such a reception is considered to be a permissible gift not subject to a dollar limitation that may be received by the public employee or members of the public employee's immediate family.

HOUSE FILE 601 - Campaign Finance - Miscellaneous Provisions (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act makes changes to various campaign finance law provisions, and directs the Code Editor to move and renumber Code Chapter 56 as Code Chapter 68A and make other appropriate changes throughout the Code.

• The Act directs statutory political committees, more commonly known as party committees, to appoint a chair and a treasurer, and to maintain campaign funds in a financial institution. A requirement that political committees declare in an initial statement of organization how residual campaign funds will eventually be disbursed is deleted, and changes are made to related requirements pertaining to the organization statement and disbursement of residual funds.
• The Act deletes the former Code language relating to independent expenditures, and substitutes a new Code section that defines independent expenditures and provides who must file an independent expenditure statement, when it must be filed, and the contents of the statement. The Act also requires the Ethics and Campaign Disclosure Board to adopt rules to implement the new section.
• The Act amends several Code sections relating to the Iowa Election Campaign Fund Income Tax Checkoff, primarily in order to place all administrative responsibility for rules and enforcement with the board.
• The Act also provides that campaign property having a value of less than $100 need only be reported once.

HOUSE FILE 614 - Election Law Changes (full text of bill) - EXTRAORDINARY SESSION - VETOED BY THE GOVERNOR
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This bill would have made changes to the law relating to elections, absentee balloting, and voter registration. Division I of the bill would have made Iowa Code changes which, unless otherwise noted, are necessary to comply with requirements of Pub. Law No. 107 252, the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. Division II would have changed the law relating to absentee voting.

DIVISION I - Provisions Related to the Federal Help America Vote Act and Miscellaneous Voting Provisions

Division I would have made Code changes requiring the following:

• That the State Commissioner of Elections (Secretary of State) adopt, by rule, administrative complaint procedures for resolution of grievances relating to violations of those provisions of the Help America Vote Act relating to uniform and nondiscriminatory election technology and administration requirements.
• That the State Registrar of Voters (Secretary of State), on or before January 1, 2004, or on or before January 1, 2006, if a federal waiver is granted, implement a centralized, computerized statewide voter registration system that is interactive with other agency computer databases in the state.
• The creation of a state planning and implementation committee to implement the Help America Vote Act.
• That an eligible elector who registers by mail and who has not previously voted in an election for federal office in the county of registration present identification when voting for the first time unless the voter provided the voter's Iowa driver's license or the last four numerals of the voter's social security number on the registration form and those numbers were subsequently verified. A voter who votes an absentee ballot by mail would be required to include a photocopy of one of the optional forms of identification with the ballot. If the required identification was not provided, the voter would be allowed to vote a provisional ballot or, if voting an absentee ballot by mail, the absentee ballot would be considered a provisional ballot.
• That information required when registering to vote include the registrant's first name and any family forename or surname and the registrant's Iowa driver's license number or, if not available, the last four numerals of the registrant's social security number. A registrant who does not have either an Iowa driver's license or social security number would be assigned an identification number for voter registration purposes by the registrar.
• That the requirement for the registrant's date of birth includes the month, date and year of birth and that the voter registration form ask the registrant if the registrant is a citizen of the United States and if the registrant will be 18 years old on or before election day. The form would also contain a statement that if the registrant answered "no" to either of those questions, the registrant is not to complete the registration form. If certain required information is not provided on the registration form, the form shall not be processed and the registrar shall mail an acknowledgment to the registrant notifying the registrant that the registration could not be processed.
• The bill would have struck the requirement that the State Voter Registration Commission prescribe voter registration forms by rule.
• That the State Registrar of Voters verify the registrant's driver's license number or the last four digits of the registrant's social security number. If either number provided cannot be verified, the registrar would be required to reject the registration application and notify the registrant. If the information can be verified, the registrar would be required to make a record of the source used for verification.
• That if a voter registration form lacking required information is received during the 12 days before the close of registration, the commissioner would be required to provide the registrant with an opportunity to complete the form before the close of registration.
• That the time period be changed from four consecutive calendar years to two or more consecutive general elections under which a commissioner participating in the national change of address program is to notify a registered voter if the voter has not voted after registering or if the voter has not responded to a prior notice mailed by the commissioner.
• That a voter's driver's license number be removed from a voter registration list prepared at the request of any person.
• That the state commissioner prepare two separate sets of instructions to voters, rather than the current one. The first set was to contain instructions on the manner of marking ballots only. The second set, which was to be known as the Iowa Voter Act of Rights, was to contain instructions required by current Code plus instructions on casting a provisional ballot, instructions for first time voters who registered by mail, the appropriate official to contact if the voter believes the voter's rights relating to voting have been violated, polling place hours and the date of the election, and information on federal and state laws which prohibit fraud and misrepresentation related to voting.
• That the time for closing precinct polling places be changed from 9 p.m. to 8 p.m. for all elections. This change is not a requirement of the Help America Vote Act.
• That the term "special ballot" be changed to "provisional ballot," which is the term used in the Help America Vote Act for a ballot cast by a challenged voter.
• That when a challenged voter's ballot is not counted, the commissioner must notify the voter by mail and inform the voter why the ballot was not counted.
• That lever voting machines be removed as an acceptable voting machine in Iowa.
• That the state commissioner be permitted to provide voting equipment to a county that is required to replace its lever voting machines with a different type of voting machine or voting system.
• That election officials print a zero count report showing that the voter machine counter is set at zero immediately before the polls open to voters.
• That if a voter leaves the voting booth without having cast the ballot the voter voted, the precinct election official shall cast the ballot.
• That write in votes cast for a person whose name appears on the ballot as a candidate for that office shall not be counted.
• That the zero count report and at least one additional copy of the printed canvass results from each voting machine shall be signed by the precinct election officials and delivered to the county commissioner.
• That the State Commissioner of Elections provide information to members of the armed forces of the United States on voter registration and absentee ballot procedures and accept voter registration applications and absentee ballot applications from members of the armed forces and forward the applications to the appropriate county commissioner of elections.
• That the time period during which a commissioner is to mail absentee ballots to a member of the armed forces after receiving the member's initial application for an absentee ballot be extended from one calendar year after receipt of the application to the next two general elections after receipt of the application.
• That when the state commissioner receives a federal write in ballot, the commissioner is to immediately forward it to the appropriate county commissioner of elections. If the ballot is received after election day but before noon on the Monday following the election, the state commissioner, rather than the county commissioner, would be required to verify that the ballot is eligible to be counted, and to notify the appropriate county commissioner and transmit the ballot. If the ballot is not to be counted, the county commissioner would be required to notify the voter and give the reason why the ballot was not counted.

DIVISION II - Absentee Voting

• That absentee ballot applications be distributed only by the county commissioner's office or by a person appointed by a political party or by mail by a political party. The bill would have struck the Code provision that allows a voter to submit an application other than the absentee ballot application prepared by the State Commissioner of Elections if the voter's application contained certain required information.
• That would allow a political party to appoint and accredit to the county commissioner of elections persons who shall be absentee ballot couriers. Absentee ballot couriers are authorized to deliver absentee ballot applications to applicants and to return voted absentee ballots to the commissioner's office. The bill would have provided that a voted absentee ballot may only be delivered to the county commissioner's office by the registered voter who completed the ballot, a member of the voter's immediate family, an absentee ballot courier, or by the voter's designee if the voter is a confined person.
• That the carrier envelope delivered to the voter along with the absentee ballot and secrecy envelope shall be marked postage paid.
• The establishment of criminal penalties for delivery of absentee ballot applications and return of absentee ballots by unauthorized persons.

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 3 - Proposed Constitutional Amendment - Qualification of Electors (full text of bill)
BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT. This Joint Resolution proposes an amendment to the Constitution of the State of Iowa relating to persons who are disqualified from voting or holding elective office. The Joint Resolution removes the words "idiot" and "insane" from the constitutional provision and substitutes the phrase "mentally incompetent to vote."

The Joint Resolution will be referred to the next General Assembly before being submitted to the electorate for ratification.