House File 155 - Introduced
HOUSE FILE
BY GASKILL
Passed House, Date Passed Senate, Date
Vote: Ayes Nays Vote: Ayes Nays
Approved
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to membership on election boards.
2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
3 TLSB 1882HH 82
4 sc/es/88
PAG LIN
1 1 Section 1. Section 49.13, subsection 2, Code 2007, is
1 2 amended to read as follows:
1 3 2. Each election board member To the extent necessary,
1 4 election boards shall be a member include members of one of
1 5 the two political parties whose candidates for president of
1 6 the United States or for governor, as the case may be,
1 7 received the largest and next largest number of votes in the
1 8 precinct at the last general election, except that persons not
1 9 members of either of these parties may be appointed to serve
1 10 for any election in which no candidates appear on the ballot
1 11 under the heading of either of these political parties.
1 12 Election boards may also include persons not members of either
1 13 of these parties. However, persons who are not members of
1 14 either political party shall not comprise more than one=third
1 15 of the membership of an election board.
1 16 Sec. 2. Section 49.15, Code 2007, is amended to read as
1 17 follows:
1 18 49.15 COMMISSIONER TO DRAW UP ELECTION BOARD PANEL.
1 19 Not less than twenty days before each primary election, the
1 20 commissioner shall draw up for each precinct an election board
1 21 panel from which members of the precinct election board shall
1 22 be appointed for each election held in the precinct during the
1 23 ensuing two years. Each panel shall include members of each
1 24 of the political parties referred to in section 49.13, whose
1 25 names may be designated by the county chairpersons of each of
1 26 these political parties not less than thirty days prior to
1 27 each primary election. The commissioner may place on the
1 28 election board panel names of persons known by the
1 29 commissioner to be members of these political parties, if the
1 30 respective county chairpersons fail to designate a sufficient
1 31 number of names, and may also add names of persons, whether or
1 32 not they are members of either of these political parties, who
1 33 have advised the commissioner they are willing to serve on the
1 34 election board for elections in which no candidates appear on
1 35 the ballot under the heading of either of these political
2 1 parties, or. The commissioner may also place on the election
2 2 board panel names of persons whom either the city council of a
2 3 city of three thousand five hundred or less population or a
2 4 school board has advised the commissioner at least thirty days
2 5 before each primary election are willing to serve without pay
2 6 at elections conducted for that school district or city, as
2 7 the case may be, during the tenure of the election board panel
2 8 on which these names are included.
2 9 Sec. 3. Section 51.2, Code 2007, is amended to read as
2 10 follows:
2 11 51.2 APPOINTMENT.
2 12 The members of the election counting board shall be
2 13 appointed by the commissioner from the election board panel
2 14 drawn up as provided by section 49.15. The requirements of
2 15 section 49.13, relative to political party affiliation of
2 16 members of the election board appointed to serve for partisan
2 17 elections shall apply to the membership of the election
2 18 counting board.
2 19 EXPLANATION
2 20 This bill allows the commissioner of elections to include
2 21 on election board panels, and thus on precinct election
2 22 boards, names of persons who are not members of the two
2 23 political parties receiving the largest and next largest
2 24 number of votes for president or governor in the last general
2 25 election. Precinct election officials are chosen from
2 26 election boards.
2 27 LSB 1882HH 82
2 28 sc:nh/es/88.1