House File 928 H-1155 Amend House File 928 as follows: 1 1. Page 1, before line 1 by inserting: 2 < Section 1. Section 43.49, subsection 1, unnumbered 3 paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 4 On the Monday or Tuesday following the primary election, the 5 board of supervisors shall meet, open, and canvass the returns 6 from each voting precinct in the county, and make abstracts 7 thereof, stating the following: 8 Sec. ___. Section 43.56, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended 9 by striking the subsection. 10 Sec. ___. Section 46.24, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended 11 to read as follows: 12 1. A judge of the supreme court, court of appeals, or 13 district court including a district associate judge, full-time 14 associate juvenile judge, or full-time associate probate judge, 15 or a clerk of the district court must receive more affirmative 16 than negative votes to be retained in office. When the poll 17 is closed, the election judges shall publicly canvass the vote 18 forthwith. The board of supervisors shall canvass the returns 19 on the Monday or Tuesday after the election, and shall promptly 20 certify the number of affirmative and negative votes on each 21 judge or clerk to the state commissioner of elections. 22 Sec. ___. Section 50.21, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended 23 to read as follows: 24 1. The commissioner shall reconvene the election board of 25 the special precinct established by section 53.20 not earlier 26 than noon on the second day following each election which 27 is required by law to be canvassed on the Monday or Tuesday 28 following the election. If the second day following such an 29 election is a legal holiday the special precinct election board 30 may be convened at noon on the day following the election, and 31 if the canvass of the election is scheduled at any time earlier 32 than the Monday Tuesday following the election, the special 33 precinct election board shall be reconvened at noon on the day 34 following the election. 35 -1- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 1/ 8 #1.

Sec. ___. Section 50.24, subsections 1 and 4, Code 2025, are 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. The county board of supervisors shall meet to canvass 3 the vote on the first Monday or Tuesday after the day of 4 each election to which this chapter is applicable, unless 5 the law authorizing the election specifies another date for 6 the canvass. If that Monday or Tuesday is a public holiday, 7 section 4.1, subsection 34 , controls. 8 4. For a regular or special city election or a city runoff 9 election, if the city is located in more than one county, the 10 controlling commissioner for that city under section 47.2 shall 11 conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after 12 the day of the election. However, if a recount is requested 13 pursuant to section 50.48 , the controlling commissioner shall 14 conduct the second canvass within two business days after the 15 conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner 16 conducting a canvass for the city pursuant to subsection 1 17 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and public measures of 18 that city to the controlling commissioner for that city, along 19 with individual tallies for each write-in candidate. At the 20 second canvass, the county board of supervisors of the county 21 of the controlling commissioner shall canvass the abstracts 22 received pursuant to this subsection and shall prepare a 23 combined city abstract stating the number of votes cast in the 24 city for each office and on each question on the ballot for 25 the city election. The combined city abstract shall further 26 indicate the name of each person who received votes for each 27 office on the ballot, the number of votes each person named 28 received for that office, and the number of votes for and 29 against each question submitted to the voters at the election. 30 The votes of all write-in candidates who each received less 31 than five percent of the total votes cast in the city for 32 an office shall be reported collectively under the heading 33 “scattering”. 34 Sec. ___. Section 50.24, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code 35 -2- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 2/ 8

2025, is amended to read as follows: 1 a. For a regular or special school election, if the school 2 district is located in more than one county, the controlling 3 commissioner for that school district under section 47.2 shall 4 conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after 5 the day of election. However, if a recount is requested 6 pursuant to section 50.48 , the controlling commissioner shall 7 conduct the second canvass within two business days after the 8 conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner 9 conducting a canvass for the school district pursuant to 10 subsection 1 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and 11 public measures of that school district to the controlling 12 commissioner for that school district, along with individual 13 tallies for each write-in candidate. At the second canvass the 14 county board of supervisors of the controlling county shall 15 canvass the abstracts received pursuant to this subsection and 16 shall prepare a combined school district abstract stating the 17 number of votes cast in the school district for each office and 18 on each question on the ballot for the school election. The 19 combined school district abstract shall further indicate the 20 name of each person who received votes for each office on the 21 ballot, the number of votes each person named received for that 22 office, and the number of votes for and against each question 23 submitted to the voters at the election. The votes of all 24 write-in candidates who each received less than five percent of 25 the total votes cast in the school district for an office shall 26 be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”. > 27 2. Page 1, lines 9 and 10, by striking < day second Wednesday 28 following the county board’s canvass of the > and inserting < day 29 following the county board’s canvass of the > 30 3. Page 1, line 15, by striking < one percent or less > 31 and inserting < less than either one percent or fifty votes, 32 whichever is lesser > 33 4. Page 1, line 29, by striking < second Wednesday following > 34 and inserting < day following the county board’s canvass of > 35 -3- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 3/ 8 #2. #3.

5. Page 1, line 34, by striking < one percent or less > and 1 inserting < less than fifteen hundredths of one percent for the 2 election or nomination of a candidate for a statewide elected 3 office or federal office, or less than either one percent or 4 fifty votes, whichever is lesser, for all other elections or 5 nominations > 6 6. By striking page 2, line 18, through page 3, line 11, and 7 inserting: 8 < Sec. ___. Section 50.48, subsection 2, Code 2025, is 9 amended by striking the subsection. > 10 7. Page 3, line 22, by striking < the commissioner, the 11 commissioner’s > 12 8. Page 3, by striking lines 23 and 24 and inserting < the 13 commissioner and the commissioner’s staff . The commissioner 14 may assign persons employed by the commissioner to tally 15 ballots during the election as members of the recount 16 board. If the commissioner assigns persons employed by the 17 commissioner to tally ballots during the election as members of 18 the recount board to recount an election for a partisan office, 19 the commissioner shall assign an equal number of persons from 20 each political party. > 21 9. Page 4, by striking lines 3 through 5 and inserting 22 < of the recount in each county where the recount is being 23 conducted. A candidate may replace an observer appointed by 24 the candidate at any time. > 25 10. Page 4, line 16, by striking < If automatic tabulating > 26 and inserting < If automatic tabulating > 27 11. Page 4, by striking lines 17 and 18 and inserting 28 < equipment was used to count the ballots, the recount board may 29 request the commissioner to retabulate the ballots using > 30 12. Page 4, line 19, by striking < the automatic tabulating 31 equipment. > and inserting < the automatic tabulating equipment. > 32 13. Page 4, by striking lines 22 through 25 and inserting < A 33 recount shall be conducted by the use of automatic tabulating 34 equipment, except that the state commissioner, for an election 35 -4- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 4/ 8 #5. #6. #7. #8. #9. #10. #11. #12.

for a member of the general assembly, or commissioner, for a 1 local elective office, may direct that an election be conducted 2 by hand due to extraordinary circumstances. The same method 3 of conducting the recount shall be used in each precinct where 4 the recount is conducted. The commissioner shall make all 5 pieces of automatic tabulating equipment available for use in 6 the recount. > 7 14. Page 5, line 8, by striking < subsection > and inserting 8 < subsections > 9 15. Page 5, line 9, by striking < commissioner > and inserting 10 < recount board > 11 16. Page 5, line 12, after < recount > by inserting < in a 12 county > 13 17. Page 5, after line 20 by inserting: 14 < NEW SUBSECTION . 10. Before a recount board has issued its 15 final report, the candidate or person who requested the recount 16 may reach an agreement with the apparent winner to accept the 17 results of the original canvass by submitting the agreement in 18 writing to each recount board that is conducting the recount. 19 Upon receipt of the agreement, the recount boards shall cease 20 their work and report to each county commissioner in a county 21 where the recount is being conducted that the results of the 22 original canvass are the official results. 23 Sec. ___. Section 50.49, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended 24 to read as follows: 25 1. A recount for any public measure shall be ordered by the 26 board of canvassers if a petition requesting a recount is filed 27 with the state commissioner for a public measure voted on by 28 the electors of the entire state, or the county commissioner 29 for all other public measures, not later than three days after 30 the completion of the canvass of votes for the election at 31 which the question appeared on the ballot and the abstracts 32 prepared pursuant to section 50.24 indicate that the difference 33 between the affirmative and negative votes cast on the public 34 measure is less than fifteen hundredths of one percent for a 35 -5- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 5/ 8 #14. #15. #16. #17.

public measure voted on by the electors of the entire state, 1 or less than either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is 2 lesser, for all other public measures . The petition shall be 3 signed by the greater of not less than ten eligible electors or 4 a number of eligible electors equaling one percent of the total 5 number of votes cast upon the public measure. Each petitioner 6 must be a person who was entitled to vote on the public measure 7 in question or would have been so entitled if registered to 8 vote. 9 Sec. ___. Section 50.49, subsection 4, Code 2025, is amended 10 by striking the subsection. 11 Sec. ___. Section 50.50, Code 2025, is amended to read as 12 follows: 13 50.50 Administrative recounts audits . 14 1. The commissioner who was responsible for conducting an 15 election may request an administrative recount audit when the 16 commissioner is informed or suspects that voting equipment used 17 in the election malfunctioned or that programming errors may 18 have affected the outcome of the election, or if the precinct 19 election officials report counting errors to the commissioner 20 after the conclusion of the canvass of votes in the precinct. 21 An administrative recount audit shall be conducted by the board 22 of the special precinct established by section 53.23 . Bond 23 shall not be required for an administrative recount. The 24 state commissioner may adopt rules for administrative recounts 25 audits . 26 2. If the recount board finds that there is an error 27 in the programming of any voting equipment which may have 28 affected the outcome of the election for any office or public 29 measure on the ballot, the recount board shall describe the 30 errors in its report to the commissioner. The commissioner 31 shall notify the board of supervisors. The supervisors shall 32 determine whether to order an administrative recount for any 33 or all of the offices and public measures on the ballot. Each 34 political party, as defined in section 43.2, may appoint up 35 -6- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 6/ 8

to five observers to witness an audit conducted pursuant to 1 this section. The observers shall be appointed by the county 2 chairperson or, if the county chairperson fails to make an 3 appointment, by the state chairperson. However, if either or 4 both political parties fail to appoint an observer, the board 5 may continue with the proceedings. > 6 18. Page 6, by striking lines 5 through 24. 7 19. Page 7, after line 13 by inserting: 8 < Sec. ___. Section 60.2, Code 2025, is amended to read as 9 follows: 10 60.2 Clerk. 11 The secretary of state clerk of the supreme court shall be 12 the clerk of the court , or, in the secretary of state’s absence 13 or inability to act, the clerk of the supreme court . > 14 20. Page 7, after line 31 by inserting: 15 < Sec. ___. Section 61.2, Code 2025, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 61.2 Clerk. 18 The secretary of state clerk of the supreme court shall be 19 the clerk of this court ; but if the person holding that office 20 is a party to the contest, the clerk of the supreme court, or, 21 in case of that person’s absence or inability, the auditor of 22 state shall be clerk . > 23 21. Page 8, lines 29 and 30, by striking < five district 24 judges > and inserting < a district court judge from the judicial 25 district where the county election is being contested > 26 22. Page 9, after line 20 by inserting: 27 < Sec. ___. Section 260C.15, subsection 5, Code 2025, is 28 amended to read as follows: 29 5. The votes cast in the election shall be canvassed and 30 abstracts of the votes cast shall be certified as required by 31 section 277.20 . In each county whose commissioner of elections 32 is the controlling commissioner for a merged area under section 33 47.2 , the county board of supervisors shall convene on the 34 second Monday or Tuesday after the day of the election to 35 -7- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 7/ 8 #18. #19. #20. #21. #22.

canvass the abstracts of votes cast from each county in the 1 merged area, and declare the results of the voting. The 2 commissioner shall at once issue certificates of election to 3 each person declared elected, and shall certify to the merged 4 area board in substantially the manner prescribed by section 5 50.27 the result of the voting on any public question submitted 6 to the voters of the merged area. Members elected to the board 7 of directors of a merged area shall qualify by taking the oath 8 of office prescribed in section 277.28 . > 9 23. By renumbering as necessary. 10 ______________________________ HARRIS of Appanoose -8- HF 928.1148 (1) 91 ss/ns 8/ 8 #23.