HSB 683 (LSB 6187HC (4) 83)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON MASCHER)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to election laws by making changes to voter registration, absentee voting, and election day procedures, providing a penalty, and including effective date and applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 39A.3, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2009, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (7A)  Refuses the opportunity to cast a provisional ballot to a prospective voter who was entitled to vote pursuant to section 49.81, subsection 1. 
    Sec. 2.  Section 39A.3, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (8), Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   (8)  Allows a person to do any of the acts proscribed by subparagraphs (1) through (7) (7A).
    Sec. 3.  Section 48A.7A, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (2), subparagraph division (d), Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   (d)  Bank statement provided by the financial institution either electronically or by regular mail.
    Sec. 4.  Section 48A.7A, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (2), Code 2009, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph divisions:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH DIVISION.  (h)  A printed blank check.
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH DIVISION.  (i)  A receipt for payment of an item in subparagraph division (b) or (c).
    Sec. 5.  Section 48A.11, subsection 1, Code 2009, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  n.  Whether the registrant wishes to request an absentee ballot and the name and date of the election for which the absentee ballot is requested. A registrant may request an absentee ballot under this paragraph for an election held in the year of registration or in the year following registration.
    Sec. 6.  Section 49.77, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code Supplement 2009, is amended by striking the paragraph.
    Sec. 7.  Section 50.15A, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  After the polls close on election day, the commissioner of elections shall periodically provide election results to the state commissioner of elections as the precincts in the county report election results to the commissioner pursuant to section 50.11. If the commissioner determines that all precincts will not report election results before the office is closed, the commissioner shall report the most complete results available prior to leaving the office at the time the office is closed as provided in section 50.11. The commissioner shall specify the number of precincts included in the report to the state commissioner of elections.
    Sec. 8.  Section 50.20, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   50.20  Notice of number of provisional ballots.

   The commissioner shall compile a list of the number of provisional ballots cast under section 49.81 in each precinct. The list shall include the name and address of those persons in each precinct who cast provisional ballots. For the general election, the list shall be made available to the public on election day after the polls close. For all other elections, the list shall be made available to the public as soon as possible, but in no case later than nine o’clock 9:00 a.m. on the second day following the election. Any elector may examine the list during normal office hours, and may also examine the affidavit envelopes bearing the ballots of challenged electors until the reconvening of the special precinct board as required by this chapter. Only those persons so permitted by section 53.23, subsection 4, shall have access to the affidavits while that board is in session. Any elector may present written statements or documents, supporting or opposing the counting of any provisional ballot, at the commissioner’s office until the reconvening of the special precinct board.
    Sec. 9.  Section 53.1, subsection 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Any registered voter may vote absentee, subject to the provisions of this chapter, vote at any election:
   a.  When the voter expects to be absent on election day during the time the polls are open from the precinct in which the voter is a registered voter.
   b.  When, through illness or physical disability, the voter expects to be prevented from going to the polls and voting on election day.
   c.  When the voter expects to be unable to go to the polls and vote on election day.
    Sec. 10.  Section 53.2, subsections 1, 4, and 7, Code Supplement 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  Any registered voter, under the circumstances specified in section 53.1, may on any day, except election day, and not more than seventy days prior to the date of the election, apply in person for an absentee ballot at the commissioner’s office or at any location designated by the commissioner. However, for those elections in which the commissioner directs the polls be opened at noon pursuant to section 49.73, a voter may apply in person for an absentee ballot at the commissioner’s office from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. on election day.
   b.  A registered voter may make written application to the commissioner for an absentee ballot. A written application for an absentee ballot must be received by the commissioner no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election. A written application for an absentee ballot delivered to the commissioner and received by the commissioner more than seventy days prior to the date of the election shall be retained by the commissioner and processed in the same manner as a written application received not more than seventy days before the date of the election.
   4.  Each application shall contain the name and signature of the registered voter, the registered voter’s date of birth, the address at which the voter is registered to vote, and the name or date of the election for which the absentee ballot is requested, and such other information as may be necessary to determine the correct absentee ballot for the registered voter.  Spaces for information on the prescribed form shall be arranged in such a manner that required information is at the beginning of the form before spaces for information that is optional to include. If insufficient information has been provided, either on the prescribed form or on an application created by the applicant, the commissioner shall, by the best means available, obtain the additional necessary information.
   7.  A registered voter who has not moved from the county in which the elector is registered to vote may submit a change of name, telephone number, or address on the absentee ballot application form when requesting an absentee ballot from the commissioner in the county where the applicant resides. Upon receipt of a properly completed form, the commissioner shall enter a notation of the change on the registration records.
    Sec. 11.  NEW SECTION.  53.4  Receipt of application for ballot —— notation on registration record.

   The receipt of an application for an absentee ballot, and any information contained on the absentee ballot application pertaining to the applicant’s voter registration record, shall be recorded on the statewide voter registration system within forty-eight hours of receipt of the application by the commissioner.
    Sec. 12.  Section 53.20, subsection 2, Code Supplement 2009, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  The reports required by this subsection shall be forwarded to the state commissioner who shall compile the reports into one statewide report for each precinct in each county and shall make the report available to the public.
    Sec. 13.  Section 53.23, subsection 1, Code Supplement 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The election board of the absentee ballot and special voters precinct shall be appointed by the commissioner in the manner prescribed by sections 49.12 and 49.13, except that the number of precinct election officials appointed to the board shall be sufficient to complete the counting of absentee ballots by 10:00 p.m. after the board convenes on election day.
    Sec. 14.  Section 53.23, subsection 3, paragraphs a and c, Code Supplement 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  The commissioner shall set the convening time for the board, allowing a reasonable amount of time to complete counting all absentee ballots by 10:00 p.m. after the board convenes on election day.  Once the commissioner has convened the board on election day, the count required by this subsection shall not cease or otherwise be interrupted until the count is completed.
   c.  For the general election, the commissioner may convene the special precinct election board on the day before the election to begin counting absentee ballots. However, if in the preceding general election the counting of absentee ballots was not completed by 10:00 p.m. on election day, the commissioner shall convene the special precinct election board on the day before the next general election to begin counting absentee ballots. The board shall not release the results of its tabulation pursuant to this paragraph until the count is completed on election day.
    Sec. 15.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT AND APPLICABILITY.  This Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon enactment and applies to elections held on or after May 15, 2010.
EXPLANATION
   This bill makes various changes to the laws relating to absentee voting and voter registration.
   The bill provides that it is election misconduct in the second degree for an election official to refuse a prospective voter the opportunity to vote a provisional ballot if the voter was entitled to vote a provisional ballot. Election misconduct in the second degree is an aggravated misdemeanor. An aggravated misdemeanor is punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine of at least $625 but not more than $6,250.
   The bill adds to the list of documents that are accepted for purposes of establishing residency for election day and in-person absentee voter registration. Currently, two of the acceptable items are a property tax statement or utility bill showing the name and address of the voter registrant. The bill provides that a receipt for payment of either of these items is acceptable if the receipt contains the name and address of the voter registrant. The bill also adds “a printed blank check” with the person’s name and address as an acceptable document for establishing residency. The bill specifies that the bank statement currently listed as an acceptable document for establishing residency may be a bank statement provided by the financial institution either electronically or by regular mail.
   The bill requires the state commissioner to include on the voter registration form space for the registrant to indicate whether the registrant wishes to request an absentee ballot and the name and date of the election, held in the year of registration or the year following registration, for which the absentee ballot is requested.
   The bill eliminates a provision authorizing a precinct election official to ask for identification of any voter unknown to the official.
   Under current law, the county commissioner of elections is to compile a list, for public inspection within two days of the election, of the number of provisional ballots cast in an election. The bill requires that the list also include the name and address of each person who cast a provisional ballot and, for general elections, that the list be made available to the public on election day.
   The bill strikes the reasons for which a voter may request an absentee ballot and provides instead that any registered voter may request and vote an absentee ballot.
   The bill strikes the requirement that an application for an absentee ballot be received not more than 70 days before the election. Currently, if an application is received more than 70 days before the election, the commissioner is required to retain the application and process it in the same manner as an application received in a timely fashion. Under the bill, the commissioner would still retain an application and process it immediately after the ballots become available.
   The bill provides that spaces on the absentee ballot application form prescribed by the state commissioner of elections shall be arranged in such a manner that required information is at the beginning of the form before spaces for information that is optional to include.
   The bill provides that if an application for an absentee ballot indicates that the applicant has moved out of the county, the commissioner of the county where the applicant resides shall make a notation on the voter’s registration indicating the change of address. Currently, a commissioner is allowed to note a change of address only if the registered voter moved within the county.
   The bill requires the commissioner to record receipt of an absentee ballot application, and any voter registration changes resulting from certain information included on the application, to be entered on the statewide voter registration system within 48 hours of receiving the application.
   Currently for the general election, the county commissioner of elections is required to report absentee and provisional voting by resident precinct of the voter. The bill requires the county commissioner of elections to send the reports to the state commissioner who shall compile a statewide report for each precinct in each county.
   The bill provides that once the special precinct election board is convened by the commissioner on election day to count absentee and provisional ballots, it must continue the count until it is completed. The bill makes a corresponding amendment relating to election day reporting requirements to the state commissioner of elections.
   Current law authorizes the commissioner to take certain actions in order to complete the count by 10:00 p.m. on election day. Those provisions are amended to authorize the same actions in order to complete the count once the board has convened on election day.
   The bill strikes the provision that required the commissioner to convene the special precinct election board on the day before the election to begin counting ballots if in the preceding general election the count was not completed by 10:00 p.m. on election day.
   The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to elections held on or after May 15, 2010.