House File 510 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 510 BY HEDDENS A BILL FOR An Act relating to the composition of election board panels 1 appointed by the county commissioner of elections and 2 including effective date and applicability provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 2541HH (5) 84 aw/sc

H.F. 510 Section 1. Section 49.12, Code 2011, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 49.12 Election boards. 3 There shall be appointed in each election precinct an 4 election board which shall ordinarily consist of three or five 5 precinct election officials. At the commissioner’s discretion, 6 additional precinct election officials may be appointed to 7 work at any election. Not more than a simple majority of 8 the members of the election board in any precinct shall be 9 members of the same political party or organization if one 10 or more registered voters of another party or organization 11 or registered voters who do not indicate affiliation with a 12 party or organization are qualified and willing to serve on the 13 board. 14 Sec. 2. Section 49.13, subsection 2, Code 2011, is amended 15 to read as follows: 16 2. For all elections in which a partisan office is on 17 the ballot, election boards shall include members of the 18 two political parties whose candidates for president of the 19 United States or for governor, as the case may be, received 20 the largest and next largest number of votes in the county 21 at the last general election. Election boards may shall 22 also include persons not members of either of these parties. 23 However, persons who are not members of either of these 24 political parties shall not comprise more than one-third of the 25 membership of an election board. 26 Sec. 3. Section 49.14, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2011, 27 is amended to read as follows: 28 a. The election board panel drawn up pursuant to section 29 49.15 contains the names of a sufficient number of political 30 party designees and persons affiliated with no party to permit 31 appointment of both the regular precinct election officials and 32 any substitute precinct election officials from that panel; or 33 Sec. 4. Section 49.15, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2011, 34 is amended to read as follows: 35 -1- LSB 2541HH (5) 84 aw/sc 1/ 3

H.F. 510 a. Each panel shall include members of each of the 1 political parties referred to in section 49.13 , whose names 2 may be designated by the county chairpersons of each of these 3 political parties not less than thirty days prior to each 4 primary election. The commissioner may place on the election 5 board panel names of persons known by the commissioner to be 6 members of these political parties, if the respective county 7 chairpersons fail to designate a sufficient number of names , 8 and may also add . Each panel shall include names of persons , 9 whether or not they who are not members of either of these 10 political parties, who have advised the commissioner they are 11 willing to serve on the election board. 12 Sec. 5. Section 49.18, Code 2011, is amended to read as 13 follows: 14 49.18 Vacancies occurring on election day. 15 If, at the opening of the polls in any precinct, there shall 16 be a vacancy in the office of the precinct election official, 17 the vacancy shall be filled by the commissioner or, with the 18 commissioner’s approval and for that election only by the 19 members of the board present, consideration being given to 20 the political party affiliation or no party affiliation of 21 the person appointed if necessary in order to comply with the 22 requirements of sections 49.12 and 49.13 . 23 Sec. 6. EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT AND APPLICABILITY. This 24 Act, being deemed of immediate importance, takes effect upon 25 enactment and applies to election board panel members appointed 26 on or after that date. 27 EXPLANATION 28 This bill requires the appointment of persons not affiliated 29 with a political party or nonparty organization to election 30 board panels appointed by the county commissioner of elections. 31 The members of the election board serving at each precinct 32 polling place are chosen from the election board panel. 33 Current law providing that not more than one-third of the 34 membership of an election board may be comprised of persons who 35 -2- LSB 2541HH (5) 84 aw/sc 2/ 3

H.F. 510 are not members of either of the political parties is retained. 1 The bill takes effect upon enactment and applies to election 2 board panel members appointed on or after that date. 3 -3- LSB 2541HH (5) 84 aw/sc 3/ 3