House File 593
PAG LIN
1 1 HOUSE FILE 593
1 2
1 3 AN ACT
1 4 RELATING TO ELECTIONS AND VOTER REGISTRATION BY PROVIDING FOR
1 5 NONPARTISAN ELECTION OF TOWNSHIP OFFICES, ALLOWING NOMINATION
1 6 PETITIONS TO BE SIGNED ON BOTH SIDES OF PAPER, REMOVING THE
1 7 REQUIREMENT THAT JUDGES' NAMES BE ROTATED ON CERTAIN BALLOTS,
1 8 RELATING TO USE OF SUBSTITUTE PRECINCT ELECTION OFFICIALS,
1 9 RELATING TO USE OF VOTING MACHINE OR PAPER BALLOTS AT CERTAIN
1 10 ELECTIONS, MODIFYING OPENING AND CLOSING HOURS OF THE POLLS
1 11 AT CERTAIN ELECTIONS, PROVIDING FOR DESTRUCTION OF CERTAIN
1 12 BALLOTS, RELATING TO THE ABSTRACT OF VOTES FOR COUNTY OFFICES,
1 13 PROVIDING FOR USE OF CERTAIN VOTING MACHINES AT SATELLITE
1 14 ABSENTEE VOTING STATIONS, RELATING TO OBSERVERS PRESENT WHEN
1 15 BALLOTS ARE COUNTED, ALLOWING ABSENTEE VOTING AT THE COMMIS=
1 16 SIONER'S OFFICE FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS, AND RELATING TO PERSONS
1 17 NOMINATED FOR CITY OFFICE BY WRITE=IN VOTES.
1 18
1 19 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1 20
1 21 Section 1. Section 39.21, Code 2003, is amended by adding
1 22 the following new subsection:
1 23 NEW SUBSECTION. 4. Township trustees and township clerks
1 24 as provided in section 39.22, subsection 2.
1 25 Sec. 2. Section 43.14, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
1 26 1, Code 2003, is amended to read as follows:
1 27 Nomination papers shall include a petition and an affidavit
1 28 of candidacy. All nomination petitions shall be eight and
1 29 one=half by eleven inches in size and in substantially the
1 30 form prescribed by the state commissioner of elections. The
1 31 petition may contain signatures on the front and back of a
1 32 sheet of paper. Each side shall be considered a separate page
1 33 of the petition for purposes of this section. They Petitions
1 34 shall include or provide spaces for the following information:
1 35 Sec. 3. Section 45.5, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
2 1 1, Code Supplement 2003, is amended to read as follows:
2 2 Nomination papers shall include a petition and an affidavit
2 3 of candidacy. All nomination petitions shall be eight and
2 4 one=half by eleven inches in size and shall be in
2 5 substantially the form prescribed by the state commissioner of
2 6 elections. The petition may contain signatures on the front
2 7 and back of a sheet of paper. Each side shall be considered a
2 8 separate page of the petition for purposes of this section.
2 9 They Petitions shall provide spaces for the following
2 10 information:
2 11 Sec. 4. Section 46.21, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2003,
2 12 is amended to read as follows:
2 13 At least sixty=nine days before each judicial election, the
2 14 state commissioner of elections shall certify to the county
2 15 commissioner of elections of each county a list of the judges
2 16 of the supreme court, court of appeals, and district court
2 17 including district associate judges, full=time associate
2 18 juvenile judges, and full=time associate probate judges, and
2 19 clerks of the district court to be voted on in each county at
2 20 that election. The county commissioner of elections shall
2 21 place the names upon the ballot in the order in which they
2 22 appear in the certificate, unless only one county is voting
2 23 thereon. The state commissioner of elections shall rotate the
2 24 names in the certificate by county, or the county commissioner
2 25 of elections shall rotate them upon the ballot by precinct if
2 26 only one county is voting thereon. The names of all judges
2 27 and clerks to be voted on shall be placed upon one ballot,
2 28 which shall be in substantially the following form:
2 29 Sec. 5. Section 49.14, subsection 1, Code 2003, is amended
2 30 to read as follows:
2 31 1. The commissioner may appoint substitute precinct
2 32 election officials as alternates for election board members.
2 33 A majority of the original election board members shall be
2 34 present at the precinct polling place at all times; However,
2 35 at partisan elections such the majority of election board
3 1 members at the precinct polling place shall include at least
3 2 one precinct election official from each political party. If
3 3 the chairperson leaves the polling place, the chairperson
3 4 shall designate another member of the board to serve as
3 5 chairperson until the chairperson returns. The
3 6 responsibilities and duties of a precinct election official,
3 7 other than the chairperson, present at the time the polling
3 8 place was opened on the day of an election may be assumed at
3 9 any later time that day by a substitute appointed as an
3 10 alternate. The substitute shall serve either for the balance
3 11 of that election day or for any shorter period of time the
3 12 commissioner may designate.
3 13 Sec. 6. Section 49.26, subsection 2, Code 2003, is amended
3 14 to read as follows:
3 15 2. When voting machines are available for an election
3 16 precinct, the commissioner shall determine in advance of each
3 17 election conducted for a city of three thousand five hundred
3 18 or less population or any school district in which voting
3 19 occurs in that precinct whether voting there shall be by
3 20 machine or paper ballot. If the commissioner concludes, on
3 21 the basis of voter turnout for recent similar elections and
3 22 factors considered likely to affect voter turnout for the
3 23 forthcoming election, that voting will probably be so light as
3 24 to make preparation and use of paper ballots less expensive
3 25 than preparation and use of a voting machine, paper ballots
3 26 shall be used.
3 27 Sec. 7. Section 49.30, subsection 1, Code 2003, is amended
3 28 to read as follows:
3 29 1. Where special paper ballots are used, if it is not
3 30 possible to include all offices and public measures on a
3 31 single ballot, separate ballots may be provided for township
3 32 offices, nonpartisan offices, judges, or public measures.
3 33 Sec. 8. Section 49.30, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code
3 34 2003, is amended to read as follows:
3 35 a. If it is impossible to place the names of all
4 1 candidates on the machine ballot, the commissioner may provide
4 2 a separate paper ballot for the candidates for judge of the
4 3 district court, the township offices, and the nonpartisan
4 4 offices listed in section 39.21. One of the paper ballots
4 5 shall be furnished to each registered voter.
4 6 Sec. 9. Section 49.37, subsection 3, Code 2003, is amended
4 7 to read as follows:
4 8 3. The commissioner shall arrange the partisan county
4 9 offices on the ballot with the board of supervisors first,
4 10 followed by the other county offices and township offices in
4 11 the same sequence in which they appear in sections section
4 12 39.17 and 39.22. Nonpartisan offices shall be listed after
4 13 partisan offices.
4 14 Sec. 10. Section 49.73, subsection 1, paragraph e, Code
4 15 2003, is amended to read as follows:
4 16 e. The unincorporated area of any county voting on a hotel
4 17 and motel tax pursuant to section 422A.1 or a local option
4 18 sales and services tax pursuant to section 422B.1.
4 19 Sec. 11. Section 49.73, subsection 2, Code 2003, is
4 20 amended to read as follows:
4 21 2. The commissioner shall not shorten voting hours for any
4 22 election if there is filed in the commissioner's office, at
4 23 least twenty=five days before the election, a petition signed
4 24 by at least fifty eligible electors of the school district or
4 25 city, as the case may be, requesting that the polls be opened
4 26 not later than seven o'clock a.m. All polling places where
4 27 the candidates of or any public question submitted by any one
4 28 political subdivision are being voted upon shall be opened at
4 29 the same hour, except that this requirement shall not apply to
4 30 merged areas established under chapter 260C. The hours at
4 31 which the respective precinct polling places are to open shall
4 32 not be changed after publication of the notice required by
4 33 section 49.53. The polling places shall be closed at nine
4 34 o'clock eight p.m. for state primary and general elections and
4 35 other partisan elections, and for any other election held
5 1 concurrently therewith, and at eight o'clock p.m. for all
5 2 other elections.
5 3 Sec. 12. Section 50.9, Code 2003, is amended to read as
5 4 follows:
5 5 50.9 RETURN OF BALLOTS NOT VOTED.
5 6 Ballots not voted, or spoiled by voters while attempting to
5 7 vote, shall be returned by the precinct election officials to
5 8 the commissioner, and a receipt taken for the ballots. The
5 9 ballots shall be preserved for twenty=two months following
5 10 elections for federal offices and for six months following
5 11 elections for all other offices. For all other elections,
5 12 ballots not voted, or spoiled by voters while attempting to
5 13 vote, may be destroyed the day after the last day to contest
5 14 the election, or the day after final determination of any
5 15 pending contest.
5 16 Sec. 13. Section 50.25, subsection 7, Code 2003, is
5 17 amended by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu
5 18 thereof the following:
5 19 7. County offices.
5 20 Sec. 14. Section 52.7, Code 2003, is amended to read as
5 21 follows:
5 22 52.7 CONSTRUCTION OF MACHINE APPROVED.
5 23 1. A voting machine approved by the state board of
5 24 examiners for voting machines and electronic voting systems
5 25 must be so constructed as to provide facilities for voting for
5 26 the candidates of at least seven different parties or
5 27 organizations, must permit a voter to vote for any person for
5 28 any office although not nominated as a candidate by any party
5 29 or organization, and must permit voting in absolute secrecy.
5 30 2. It must also be so constructed as to prevent voting for
5 31 more than one person for the same office, except where the
5 32 voter is lawfully entitled to vote for more than one person
5 33 for that office; and it must afford the voter an opportunity
5 34 to vote for any or all persons for that office as the voter is
5 35 by law entitled to vote for and no more, at the same time
6 1 preventing the voter from voting for the same person twice.
6 2 3. It may also be provided with one ballot in each party
6 3 column or row containing only the words "presidential
6 4 electors", preceded by the party name, and a vote for such
6 5 ballot shall operate as a vote for all the candidates of such
6 6 party for presidential electors.
6 7 4. Such machine shall be so constructed as to accurately
6 8 account for every vote cast upon it.
6 9 5. A voting machine may be used at satellite voting
6 10 stations or at the commissioner's office for voting of
6 11 absentee ballots if the following apply:
6 12 a. The voting machine is a direct recording electronic
6 13 voting system.
6 14 b. The voting machine is equipped with the ability to
6 15 retrieve a ballot after the ballot has been voted.
6 16 c. The voting machine is so constructed to remove
6 17 information from the ballot identifying the voter before the
6 18 ballot is recorded and counted.
6 19 Sec. 15. Section 52.36, Code 2003, is amended to read as
6 20 follows:
6 21 52.36 COMMISSIONER IN CHARGE OF COUNTING CENTER ==
6 22 APPOINTMENT OF RESOLUTION BOARD.
6 23 All proceedings at the counting center shall be under the
6 24 direction of the commissioner and open to the public. The
6 25 proceedings shall may be under the observation of at least one
6 26 member of each of the political parties referred to in section
6 27 49.13, if members are designated by the county chairperson or,
6 28 if the chairperson fails to make a designation, by the
6 29 commissioner. No person except those employed and authorized
6 30 by the commissioner for the purpose shall touch any ballot or
6 31 ballot container.
6 32 The commissioner shall appoint from the lists provided by
6 33 the county political party chairpersons a resolution board to
6 34 tabulate write=in votes and to decide questions regarding
6 35 damaged, defective, or other ballots which cannot be tabulated
7 1 by machine. The commissioner shall appoint as many people to
7 2 the resolution board as the commissioner believes are
7 3 necessary. The resolution board shall be divided into two=
7 4 person teams. Each team shall consist of people who are not
7 5 members of the same political party. If a team is unable to
7 6 decide how to count one or more ballots, a third person shall
7 7 be available to consult with the team and to resolve disputes.
7 8 Ballots which were objected to shall be endorsed and separated
7 9 as required by section 50.4.
7 10 Sec. 16. Section 53.2, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2003,
7 11 is amended to read as follows:
7 12 Any registered voter, under the circumstances specified in
7 13 section 53.1, may on any day, except election day, and not
7 14 more than seventy days prior to the date of the election,
7 15 apply in person for an absentee ballot at the commissioner's
7 16 office or at any location designated by the commissioner, or
7 17 make written application to the commissioner for an absentee
7 18 ballot. However, for those elections in which the
7 19 commissioner directs the polls be opened at noon pursuant to
7 20 section 49.73, a voter may apply in person for an absentee
7 21 ballot at the commissioner's office from eight a.m. until
7 22 eleven a.m. on election day. The state commissioner shall
7 23 prescribe a form for absentee ballot applications. However,
7 24 if a registered voter submits an application that includes all
7 25 of the information required in this section, the prescribed
7 26 form is not required. Absentee ballot applications may
7 27 include instructions to send the application directly to the
7 28 county commissioner of elections. However, no absentee ballot
7 29 application shall be preaddressed or printed with instructions
7 30 to send the applications to anyone other than the appropriate
7 31 commissioner.
7 32 Sec. 17. Section 376.11, unnumbered paragraphs 1, 3, 4,
7 33 and 5, Code 2003, are amended to read as follows:
7 34 Write=in votes are permitted to be cast in all elections
7 35 for city offices. A person who receives a sufficient number
8 1 of write=in votes to be elected to a city office shall be
8 2 declared the winner of the election. If a person who was
8 3 elected by write=in votes chooses not to serve in that office
8 4 the person shall submit a resignation in writing to the city
8 5 clerk not later than five o'clock p.m. on the tenth day
8 6 following the canvass of the election. If a person who was
8 7 elected by write=in votes resigns at a later time, the office
8 8 shall be considered vacant at the end of the term and the
8 9 council shall fill the vacancy pursuant to the provisions of
8 10 section 372.13, subsection 2.
8 11 In city primary elections any person who receives write=in
8 12 votes shall execute an affidavit in substantially the form
8 13 required by section 45.3, and file it with the county
8 14 commissioner of elections or the city clerk not later than
8 15 five o'clock p.m. on the fourth day after following the
8 16 canvass of the primary election. If any person who received
8 17 write=in votes fails to file the affidavit at the time
8 18 required, the county commissioner shall disregard the write=in
8 19 votes cast for that person. A notation shall be made on the
8 20 abstract of votes showing which persons who received write=in
8 21 votes filed affidavits. The total number of votes cast for
8 22 each office on the ballot shall be amended by subtracting the
8 23 write=in votes of those candidates who failed to file the
8 24 affidavit. It is not necessary for a candidate whose name was
8 25 printed upon the ballot to file an affidavit. Of the
8 26 remaining candidates, those who receive the highest number of
8 27 votes to the extent of twice the number of unfilled positions
8 28 shall be placed on the ballot for the regular city election as
8 29 candidates for that office.
8 30 In cities in which the city council has chosen a runoff
8 31 election in lieu of a primary, if a person who was elected by
8 32 write=in votes chooses not to accept the office by filing a
8 33 resignation notice with the city clerk or commissioner of
8 34 elections not later than five o'clock p.m. on the fourth day
8 35 following the canvass, all remaining persons who received
9 1 write=in votes and who wish to be considered candidates for
9 2 the runoff election shall execute an affidavit in
9 3 substantially the form required by section 45.3 and file it
9 4 with the county commissioner or the city clerk not later than
9 5 five o'clock p.m. of the fourth day following the canvass. If
9 6 a person receiving write=in votes fails to file the affidavit
9 7 at the time required, the county commissioner of elections
9 8 shall disregard the write=in votes cast for that person. The
9 9 abstract of votes shall be amended to show that the person who
9 10 was declared elected declined the office and a notation shall
9 11 be made next to the names of those persons who did not file
9 12 the affidavit. A runoff election shall be held with the
9 13 remaining candidates who have the highest number of votes to
9 14 the extent of twice the number of unfilled positions.
9 15 In a city in which the council has chosen a runoff
9 16 election, if no person was declared elected for an office all
9 17 persons who received write=in votes shall execute an affidavit
9 18 in substantially the form required by section 45.3 and file it
9 19 with the county commissioner of elections or the city clerk
9 20 not later than five o'clock p.m. on the fourth day following
9 21 the canvass of votes. If any person who received write=in
9 22 votes fails to file the affidavit the county commissioner of
9 23 elections shall disregard the write=in votes cast for that
9 24 person. The abstract of votes shall be amended to note which
9 25 of the write=in candidates failed to file the affidavit. A
9 26 runoff election shall be held with the remaining candidates
9 27 who have the highest number of votes to the extent of twice
9 28 the number of unfilled positions.
9 29
9 30
9 31
9 32 CHRISTOPHER C. RANTS
9 33 Speaker of the House
9 34
9 35
10 1
10 2 JEFFREY M. LAMBERTI
10 3 President of the Senate
10 4
10 5 I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
10 6 is known as House File 593, Eightieth General Assembly.
10 7
10 8
10 9
10 10 MARGARET THOMSON
10 11 Chief Clerk of the House
10 12 Approved , 2004
10 13
10 14
10 15
10 16 THOMAS J. VILSACK
10 17 Governor