H.F. 97 Section 1. Section 49.53, subsection 1, Code 2011, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 1. The commissioner shall not less than four nor more than 3 twenty days before the day of each election, except those for 4 which different publication requirements are prescribed by law, 5 publish notice of the election. The notice shall contain a 6 facsimile of the portion of the ballot containing the first 7 rotation as prescribed by section 49.31, subsection 2 , and 8 shall show the names of all candidates or nominees and the 9 office each seeks, and all public questions, to be voted upon 10 at the election. The sample ballot published as a part of the 11 notice may at the discretion of the commissioner be reduced in 12 size relative to the actual ballot but such reduction shall 13 not cause upper case letters appearing in candidates’ names or 14 in summaries of public measures on the published sample ballot 15 to be less than nine point type. The notice shall also state 16 the date of the election, the hours the polls will be open, 17 the location of each polling place at which voting is to occur 18 in the election, and the names of the precincts voting at each 19 polling place, but the statement need not set forth any fact 20 which is apparent from the portion of the ballot appearing as 21 a part of the same notice. The notice shall include the full 22 text of all public measures to be voted upon at the election. 23 For the general election, the notice shall also include notice 24 of the time and place of the postelection audit required in 25 section 50.51. 26 Sec. 2. Section 50.12, Code 2011, is amended to read as 27 follows: 28 50.12 Return and preservation of ballots. 29 Immediately after making the proclamation, and before 30 separating, the board members of each precinct in which votes 31 have been received by paper ballot shall enclose in an envelope 32 or other container all ballots which have been counted by them, 33 except those endorsed “Rejected as double”, “Defective”, or 34 “Objected to”, and securely seal the envelope. The signatures 35 -1- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 1/ 8

H.F. 97 of all board members of the precinct shall be placed across 1 the seal or the opening of the container so that it cannot 2 be opened without breaking the seal. The precinct election 3 officials shall return all the ballots to the commissioner, who 4 shall carefully preserve them for six months. Ballots from 5 elections for federal offices shall be preserved for twenty-two 6 months. The sealed packages containing voted ballots shall 7 be opened only for an official recount authorized by section 8 50.48 , 50.49 , or 50.50 , for an election contest held pursuant 9 to chapters 57 through 62 , for a postelection audit required by 10 section 50.51, or to destroy the ballots pursuant to section 11 50.19 . 12 Sec. 3. Section 50.48, subsection 1, paragraph a, 13 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as 14 follows: 15 The county board of canvassers shall order a recount of the 16 votes cast for a particular office or nomination in one or 17 more specified election precincts in that county if a written 18 request therefor for a recount is made not later than 5:00 p.m. 19 on the third day following the county board’s canvass of the 20 election in question. However, if a postelection audit is 21 expanded pursuant to section 50.51, subsection 6, paragraph 22 “d” , the request for a recount shall be made not later than 23 5:00 p.m. on the first business day following completion of 24 the audit. The request shall be filed with the commissioner 25 of that county, or with the commissioner responsible for 26 conducting the election if section 47.2, subsection 2 , is 27 applicable, and shall be signed by either of the following: 28 Sec. 4. Section 50.49, subsection 1, Code 2011, is amended 29 to read as follows: 30 1. A recount for any public measure shall be ordered by 31 the board of canvassers if a petition requesting a recount is 32 filed with the county commissioner not later than three days 33 after the completion of the canvass of votes for the election 34 at which the question appeared on the ballot. However, if a 35 -2- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 2/ 8

H.F. 97 postelection audit is expanded to additional precincts pursuant 1 to section 50.51, subsection 6, paragraph “d” , the request for 2 a recount shall be made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the first 3 business day following completion of the audit. The petition 4 shall be signed by the greater of not less than ten eligible 5 electors or a number of eligible electors equaling one percent 6 of the total number of votes cast upon the public measure. 7 Each petitioner must be a person who was entitled to vote on 8 the public measure in question or would have been so entitled 9 if registered to vote. 10 Sec. 5. NEW SECTION . 50.51 Postelection audit. 11 1. a. After each general election, a postelection audit of 12 voting systems shall be conducted as provided in this section. 13 b. A postelection audit conducted pursuant to this section 14 shall not affect a person’s right to request a recount under 15 section 50.48 or the right of electors to request a recount 16 of a public measure under section 50.49 or the commissioner’s 17 right to request an administrative recount under section 50.50. 18 If a request for a recount is filed under section 50.48 or 19 50.49, a postelection audit of the office or public measure for 20 which the recount was requested shall not be conducted or shall 21 be terminated, as the case may be. 22 2. The commissioner shall include notice of the time and 23 place of the postelection audit in the notice of the election 24 published pursuant to section 49.53. The commissioner shall 25 also notify the county chairperson of each political party 26 referred to in section 49.13, subsection 2, of the time and 27 place of the postelection audit. 28 3. a. The postelection audit shall be conducted for the 29 offices of president of the United States and governor and 30 an additional office listed in paragraph “b” or “c” , and the 31 offices listed in paragraph “d” , if applicable. 32 b. When the office of president of the United States 33 appears on the ballot, the votes cast for one of the following 34 contested offices shall be audited: 35 -3- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 3/ 8

H.F. 97 (1) United States senator. 1 (2) United States representative. 2 (3) Senator in the general assembly. 3 (4) Representative in the general assembly. 4 c. When the office of governor appears on the ballot, the 5 votes cast for one of the following contested offices shall be 6 audited: 7 (1) United States senator. 8 (2) United States representative. 9 (3) Senator in the general assembly. 10 (4) Representative in the general assembly. 11 (5) Secretary of state. 12 (6) Auditor of state. 13 (7) Treasurer of state. 14 (8) Attorney general. 15 (9) Secretary of agriculture. 16 d. The additional office to be audited under paragraph 17 “b” or “c” shall be chosen by lot at the same time and in the 18 same manner that precincts to be audited are chosen pursuant 19 to subsection 4. If in the election to be audited, none of 20 the offices listed in paragraph “b” were contested races, 21 the offices of county supervisor, county auditor, and county 22 sheriff shall be entered in the lot, and if none of the offices 23 listed in paragraph “c” were contested races, the offices 24 of county supervisor, county attorney, county treasurer, and 25 county recorder shall be entered in the lot. 26 e. In addition to the offices listed in this subsection 27 as being subject to the postelection audit, the commissioner 28 may choose to include any other office or public measure that 29 appeared on the ballot in those precincts chosen for the 30 postelection audit. 31 4. a. The precincts for which a postelection audit shall 32 be conducted shall be chosen by lot by the chairperson of 33 the county board of canvassers on the day the canvass of 34 the general election is conducted. After the precincts have 35 -4- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 4/ 8

H.F. 97 been chosen, the additional office to be audited, as provided 1 in subsection 3, shall be chosen by lot by the chairperson. 2 The selection proceedings shall be open to the public and to 3 observers from the political parties. 4 b. The number of precincts chosen shall be as follows: 5 (1) In counties with fifty thousand or fewer registered 6 voters, two precincts. 7 (2) In counties with more than fifty thousand registered 8 voters up to and including one hundred thousand registered 9 voters, three precincts. 10 (3) In counties with more than one hundred thousand 11 registered voters, four precincts. 12 c. Notwithstanding paragraph “b” , in counties with seven 13 or fewer precincts, one precinct shall be chosen for the 14 postelection audit. 15 d. The absentee and special voters precinct established 16 in section 53.20 shall be considered a precinct for purposes 17 of a postelection audit. If the absentee and special voters 18 precinct is chosen by lot to be audited or chosen by the 19 commissioner pursuant to paragraph “f” , a number of ballots 20 equal to five percent of the absentee ballots cast in the 21 election shall be audited. 22 e. When a precinct other than the absentee and special 23 voters precinct is chosen in which one thousand five hundred 24 or more ballots were cast in the election, the chairperson 25 shall, for each such precinct, choose one less precinct than 26 the number required by paragraph “b” . If such a precinct is 27 chosen last among the number of precincts required by paragraph 28 “b” , then that precinct shall be audited, and the first precinct 29 drawn that was not the absentee and special voters precinct 30 shall not be audited. 31 f. The commissioner may choose to include in the audit 32 additional precincts not chosen by lot under this subsection. 33 g. For purposes of paragraph “b” , “registered voters” 34 means those persons registered to vote as of the close of 35 -5- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 5/ 8

H.F. 97 registration for the general election pursuant to section 1 48A.9, subsection 1. 2 h. The county board of canvassers shall not use a 3 computerized process of randomization as the method of 4 selecting by lot the precincts and offices to be audited. 5 5. The commissioner shall appoint the members of the 6 postelection audit board. The postelection audit board shall 7 be comprised of members affiliated with the political parties 8 as provided for election boards in section 49.12. 9 6. a. When all members of the postelection audit board have 10 been selected and the canvass is completed, the board shall 11 undertake the required audit. The audit shall be completed no 12 later than two business days following the canvass. The audit 13 shall be open to the public and to observers from the political 14 parties. 15 b. The ballots in each precinct chosen shall be counted 16 by hand. The commissioner or the commissioner’s designee 17 shall supervise the handling of ballots, tally lists, and the 18 printed reports from the automatic tabulating equipment to 19 ensure that the ballots, tally lists, and printed reports are 20 protected from alteration or damage. The board shall open only 21 the sealed ballot containers from the precincts chosen to be 22 audited. The board shall recount only the ballots which were 23 voted and counted for the office or public measure that is the 24 subject of the audit. Only votes marked in accordance with the 25 instructions that are printed on the ballot in a precinct being 26 audited shall be counted in the audit. 27 c. Immediately following the conclusion of the audit, 28 the postelection audit board shall make and file with the 29 commissioner a written report of its findings, which report 30 shall be signed by the chairperson of the postelection audit 31 board and one other member of the board who is affiliated with 32 a political party different than that of the chairperson. 33 d. (1) If the postelection audit of an office or public 34 measure reveals a difference greater than one-half of one 35 -6- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 6/ 8

H.F. 97 percent, but no fewer than two votes, from the results on 1 the printed report from the automatic tabulating equipment, 2 the postelection audit board shall, within two days, conduct 3 an audit of the offices or public measures for which such 4 difference was found in at least two additional precincts 5 chosen in the same manner the original precincts were chosen 6 and shall immediately report the results to the commissioner. 7 (2) If the second audit also indicates a difference in the 8 vote totals that is greater than one-half of one percent, but 9 no fewer than two votes, from the results on the printed report 10 from the automatic tabulating equipment, the commissioner shall 11 immediately notify the state commissioner of elections. 12 (3) The state commissioner of elections may direct the 13 commissioner, or any other commissioner of a county where the 14 office or public measure appeared on the ballot, to conduct an 15 additional audit of the office or public measure in a number of 16 precincts determined by the state commissioner. 17 7. All reports pertaining to a postelection audit shall be 18 filed with the state commissioner of elections, and the state 19 commissioner shall make public the results of the postelection 20 audit in each county as those reports are received. 21 8. The state commissioner of elections shall adopt rules 22 to implement this section including but not limited to rules 23 establishing criteria for the state commissioner to utilize 24 when evaluating the results of postelection audits. 25 Sec. 6. APPLICABILITY. This Act applies to the general 26 election held in 2012 and all subsequent general elections. 27 Sec. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect July 1, 2011. 28 EXPLANATION 29 This bill requires a postelection audit after each general 30 election. The postelection audit is a hand count of the 31 ballots cast in certain contested, partisan offices in selected 32 precincts. The precincts and offices to be audited are to be 33 selected publicly by lot by the county board of canvassers, 34 except that the office of President of the United States 35 -7- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 7/ 8

H.F. 97 and governor are required to be audited after each general 1 election. 2 The bill provides that the number of precincts to be audited 3 is as follows: 4 (1) In counties with 50,000 or fewer registered voters, two 5 precincts. 6 (2) In counties with more than 50,000 registered voters up 7 to and including 100,000 registered voters, three precincts. 8 (3) In counties with more than 100,000 registered voters, 9 four precincts. 10 The bill provides that if the postelection audit reveals a 11 difference greater than one-half of 1 percent from the results 12 on the printed report from the automatic tabulating equipment, 13 the postelection audit board shall, within two days, conduct 14 an audit of the offices for which such difference was found in 15 at least two additional precincts. If the second audit also 16 indicates a difference in the vote totals that is greater than 17 one-half of 1 percent, but no fewer than two votes, from the 18 results on the printed report from the automatic tabulating 19 equipment, the commissioner shall immediately notify the state 20 commissioner of elections. The state commissioner may direct 21 the commissioner, or any other commissioner of a county where 22 the office appeared on the ballot, to conduct an additional 23 audit of the office in a number of precincts determined by the 24 state commissioner. 25 The bill provides that if a recount of an office or public 26 measure is requested, the postelection audit of that office or 27 public measure shall not be conducted or shall be terminated, 28 as the case may be. 29 The bill requires the state commissioner of elections to 30 make public the results of postelection audits. 31 The bill takes effect July 1, 2011, and applies to the 32 general election held in 2012 and all subsequent general 33 elections. 34 -8- LSB 1589HH (5) 84 sc/nh 8/ 8