HOUSE FILE _____

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

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the solicitation, delivery, and return of absentee ballot applications.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

   Section 1.  NEW SECTION.  53.4  Solicitation, delivery, and return of absentee ballot applications —— prohibitions.
   1.  A person acting as an actual or implied agent for a candidate or committee, as defined by chapter 68A, or for a political party or nonparty political organization is prohibited from soliciting or delivering an application for an absentee ballot or collecting for return or returning an application for an absentee ballot.
   2.  A candidate or committee, as defined by chapter 68A, or a political party or nonparty political organization is prohibited from providing financial compensation or reimbursement to employees or volunteers for soliciting or delivering an application for an absentee ballot or collecting for return or returning an application for an absentee ballot.
   Sec. 2.  REPEAL.  Section 53.3, Code 2011, is repealed.
EXPLANATION
   This bill prohibits an agent of a candidate or committee, as defined under the state campaign finance law, or of a political party or nonparty political organization from soliciting, delivering, or returning an application for an absentee ballot. The bill repeals the Code section that allowed an agent of a candidate or committee or of a political party to solicit and collect for return applications for absentee ballots if such persons provided the applicant with a receipt.
   The bill also prohibits a candidate or committee or a political party or nonparty political organization from providing financial compensation or reimbursement to employees or volunteers for soliciting or delivering an application for an absentee ballot or collecting for return or returning an application for an absentee ballot.