House File 278
HOUSE FILE
BY JOCHUM
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the procedures for requesting and conducting
2 recounts of votes cast.
3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
4 TLSB 1338HH 80
5 sc/pj/5
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 43.56, unnumbered paragraph 2, Code
1 2 2003, is amended by striking the unnumbered paragraph.
1 3 Sec. 2. Section 50.48, subsections 1, 2, and 3, Code 2003,
1 4 are amended by striking the subsections and inserting in lieu
1 5 thereof the following:
1 6 1. a. The county board of canvassers shall order a
1 7 recount of the votes cast in all precincts in that county for
1 8 a particular office or nomination if a written request for a
1 9 recount is filed not later than five p.m. on the third day
1 10 following the county board's canvass of the election in
1 11 question. For elections for a state or federal office or
1 12 nomination, the request shall be filed with the state
1 13 commissioner of elections. Immediately upon receipt of a
1 14 request for a recount in an election for a state or federal
1 15 office or nomination, the state commissioner shall notify the
1 16 commissioners of all counties in which votes were cast for the
1 17 office or nomination for which a recount is requested. For
1 18 county officers, city elections, school elections, and all
1 19 other elections, except those for state or federal office, the
1 20 request shall be filed with each commissioner of each county
1 21 in which votes for that office or nomination were cast, or
1 22 with the commissioner responsible for conducting the election
1 23 if section 47.2, subsection 2, is applicable.
1 24 b. A recount may be requested only if the returns prepared
1 25 pursuant to section 50.24, or section 43.49 in the case of a
1 26 primary election, indicate that a candidate for an office or
1 27 nomination was defeated or eliminated by fifty or fewer votes
1 28 when fewer than five thousand votes are cast for the office or
1 29 nomination or by one percent or less of the votes cast when
1 30 five thousand or more votes are cast for the office or
1 31 nomination, or that a political party or nonparty political
1 32 organization did not retain or attain political party status
1 33 by fifty or fewer votes when fewer than five thousand votes
1 34 are cast or by one percent or less of the votes required to be
1 35 eligible for political party status when five thousand or more
2 1 votes are cast.
2 2 c. A recount may be requested by one of the following:
2 3 (1) A candidate elected or defeated by fifty or fewer
2 4 votes when fewer than five thousand votes are cast for the
2 5 office or nomination or by one percent or less of the votes
2 6 cast when five thousand or more votes are cast for the office
2 7 or nomination.
2 8 (2) A political party or nonparty political organization
2 9 that did not retain or attain political party status by fifty
2 10 or fewer votes when fewer than five thousand votes are cast or
2 11 by one percent or less of the votes required to be eligible
2 12 for political party status when five thousand or more votes
2 13 are cast. A request by a political party or a political
2 14 organization must be signed by an officer of that party or
2 15 organization or by the political party or nonparty political
2 16 organization candidate for the office of president of the
2 17 United States or governor, whichever is applicable.
2 18 d. If a recount is requested for an office to which more
2 19 than one person was elected, the vote difference calculations
2 20 shall be made using the difference between the number of votes
2 21 received by the person requesting the recount and the number
2 22 of votes received by the apparent winner who received the
2 23 fewest votes among the apparent winners.
2 24 2. Immediately upon receipt of a request for a recount,
2 25 the state commissioner or the commissioner receiving the
2 26 written request, as applicable, shall send a copy of the
2 27 request by certified mail to all candidates who received votes
2 28 for the particular office or nomination for which a recount is
2 29 requested. In addition, the commissioner shall notify the
2 30 following persons by first=class mail or by telephone:
2 31 a. The chairperson of each state political party, if the
2 32 office or nomination for which a recount is requested is a
2 33 state or federal office.
2 34 b. The county chairperson of each county political party,
2 35 if the office or nomination for which a recount is requested
3 1 is a county office.
3 2 c. An officer of any nonparty political organization whose
3 3 candidate received votes for the office or nomination for
3 4 which a recount is requested.
3 5 3. a. In each county that a recount has been requested,
3 6 the recount shall be conducted by a board which shall consist
3 7 of the following:
3 8 (1) A designee of the candidate who received the highest
3 9 number of votes cast for that office or nomination.
3 10 (2) A designee of the candidate who received the second
3 11 highest number of votes cast for that office or nomination.
3 12 (3) A designee of the candidate who requested the recount,
3 13 if such candidate is not otherwise allowed to designate a
3 14 board member under subparagraph (1) or (2).
3 15 (4) A person chosen jointly by the designees under
3 16 subparagraphs (1) and (2) if subparagraph (3) does not apply.
3 17 b. If paragraph "a", subparagraph (3) does not apply, the
3 18 commissioner shall convene the persons designated under
3 19 paragraph "a", subparagraphs (1) and (2), not later than nine
3 20 a.m. on the seventh day following the county board's canvass
3 21 of the election in question. If those board members cannot
3 22 agree on another member by eight a.m. on the ninth day
3 23 following the canvass, they shall immediately so notify the
3 24 chief judge of the judicial district in which the canvass is
3 25 occurring, who shall appoint the other member not later than
3 26 five p.m. on the eleventh day following the canvass.
3 27 Sec. 3. Section 50.48, subsection 4, unnumbered paragraph
3 28 1, Code 2003, is amended to read as follows:
3 29 When all members of the recount board have been selected,
3 30 the board shall undertake and complete the required recount as
3 31 expeditiously as reasonably possible. The commissioner or the
3 32 commissioner's designee shall supervise the handling of
3 33 ballots or voting machine documents to ensure that the ballots
3 34 and other documents are protected from alteration or damage.
3 35 The board shall open only the sealed ballot containers from
4 1 the precincts specified to be recounted in the request or by
4 2 the recount board. The board shall recount only the ballots
4 3 which were voted and counted for the office in question,
4 4 including any disputed ballots returned as required in section
4 5 50.5. If an electronic tabulating system was used to count
4 6 the ballots, the recount board may request the commissioner to
4 7 retabulate the ballots using the electronic tabulating system.
4 8 The same program used for tabulating the votes on election day
4 9 shall be used at the recount unless the program is believed or
4 10 known to be flawed.
4 11 Sec. 4. Section 50.48, subsection 4, unnumbered paragraph
4 12 2, Code 2003, is amended by striking the unnumbered paragraph.
4 13 Sec. 5. Section 50.48, subsection 5, Code 2003, is amended
4 14 to read as follows:
4 15 5. If the recount board's report is board reports that the
4 16 abstracts prepared pursuant to the county board's canvass were
4 17 incorrect as to the number of votes cast for the candidates
4 18 for the office or nomination in question, in that county or
4 19 district, the commissioner shall at once so notify the county
4 20 board. The county board shall reconvene within three days
4 21 after being so notified, and shall correct its previous
4 22 proceedings.
4 23 Sec. 6. Section 50.49, unnumbered paragraph 4, Code 2003,
4 24 is amended to read as follows:
4 25 The petitioners requesting the recount shall post a bond as
4 26 required by section 50.48, subsection 2. The amount of the
4 27 bond shall be one thousand dollars for a public measure
4 28 appearing on the ballot statewide or one hundred dollars for
4 29 any other public measure. If the difference between the
4 30 affirmative and negative votes cast on the public measure is
4 31 less than the greater of fifty votes or one percent of the
4 32 total number of votes cast for and against the question, a
4 33 bond is not required. If approval by sixty percent of the
4 34 votes cast is required for adoption of the public measure, no
4 35 bond is required if the difference between sixty percent of
5 1 the total votes cast for and against the question and the
5 2 number of votes cast for the losing side is less than the
5 3 greater of fifty votes or one percent of the total number of
5 4 votes cast. If votes cast on the question were canvassed in
5 5 more than one county, the abstracts prepared by the county
5 6 boards in all of those counties shall be totaled for purposes
5 7 of this paragraph. If a bond is required, the bond shall be
5 8 filed with the commissioner responsible for conducting the
5 9 election.
5 10 Sec. 7. Section 50.49, Code 2003, is amended by adding the
5 11 following new unnumbered paragraphs after unnumbered paragraph
5 12 5:
5 13 NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH. After all recount proceedings on
5 14 a public measure are completed and the official canvass of
5 15 votes cast on the measure is corrected or completed, if
5 16 necessary, any bond posted under this section shall be
5 17 returned to the petitioners if the outcome of the election on
5 18 the question is different as shown by the corrected or
5 19 completed canvass. In all other cases, the bond shall be
5 20 deposited in the election fund of the county with whose
5 21 commissioner the bond was filed.
5 22 NEW UNNUMBERED PARAGRAPH. For purposes of this section,
5 23 "public measure" includes judicial retention elections held
5 24 pursuant to section 46.17.
5 25 EXPLANATION
5 26 This bill makes changes relating to procedures for
5 27 requesting and conducting recounts of votes cast.
5 28 The bill provides that a recount may be requested only if a
5 29 candidate for an office or nomination was defeated or
5 30 eliminated by 50 or fewer votes when less than 5,000 votes are
5 31 cast for the office or by 1 percent or less of the votes cast
5 32 when 5,000 or more votes are cast for the office or nomination
5 33 or if a political party or nonparty political organization did
5 34 not retain or attain political party status by 50 or fewer
5 35 votes required to be eligible for such status when less than
6 1 5,000 votes are cast or by 1 percent or less of the votes
6 2 required to be eligible for such status when 5,000 or more
6 3 votes are cast. A recount may be requested by a candidate
6 4 elected or defeated by the required amount of votes or by the
6 5 political party or nonparty political organization that failed
6 6 to retain or attain political party status by the required
6 7 amount of votes. The bill provides that if the recount is
6 8 requested for a state or federal office, the request shall be
6 9 filed with the state commissioner of elections.
6 10 The bill provides that the recount shall be for all
6 11 precincts in which votes were cast for the office or
6 12 nomination for which the recount is requested. The bill
6 13 strikes the requirement that a bond be posted by the candidate
6 14 requesting the recount. A bond is still required in some
6 15 cases for a recount of the vote on a public measure.
6 16 The bill requires the state or county commissioner of
6 17 elections, as applicable, to send a copy of the recount
6 18 request to all candidates who received votes for the office or
6 19 nomination. The bill requires the commissioner to also
6 20 notify, by first=class mail or telephone, the chairperson of
6 21 each state political party if the recount is a state or
6 22 federal office, the chairperson of each county political party
6 23 if the office is a county office, and an officer of a nonparty
6 24 political organization whose candidate received votes for the
6 25 office.
6 26 The bill provides that the recount board be composed of one
6 27 designee of each of the candidates who received the highest
6 28 and next highest number of votes for that office or nomination
6 29 and a third designee of the candidate who requested the
6 30 recount if the candidate is one who did not receive the
6 31 highest or second highest number of votes. If there are only
6 32 two designees, they are to jointly choose a third person.
6 33 LSB 1338HH 80
6 34 sc/pj/5