House
File
4
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
4
BY
COWNIE
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
option
of
voting
straight
party.
1
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
2
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Section
1.
Section
49.37,
subsection
1,
Code
2015,
is
1
amended
to
read
as
follows:
2
1.
For
general
elections,
and
for
other
elections
in
which
3
more
than
one
partisan
office
will
be
filled,
the
first
section
4
of
the
ballot
shall
be
for
straight
party
voting
arranged
as
5
provided
in
this
section
.
6
a.
Each
political
party
or
organization
which
has
7
nominated
candidates
for
more
than
one
office
shall
be
listed.
8
Instructions
to
the
voter
for
straight
party
or
organization
9
voting
shall
be
in
substantially
the
following
form:
10
To
vote
for
all
candidates
from
a
single
party
or
11
organization,
mark
the
voting
target
next
to
the
party
or
12
organization
name.
Not
all
parties
or
organizations
have
13
nominated
candidates
for
all
offices.
Marking
a
straight
party
14
or
organization
vote
does
not
include
votes
for
nonpartisan
15
offices,
judges,
or
questions.
16
b.
Political
parties
and
nonparty
political
organizations
17
which
have
nominated
candidates
for
only
one
office
shall
18
be
listed
below
the
other
political
organizations
under
the
19
following
heading:
20
Other
Political
Organizations.
The
following
organizations
21
have
nominated
candidates
for
only
one
office:
22
c.
Offices
shall
be
arranged
in
groups.
Partisan
offices,
23
nonpartisan
offices,
judges,
and
public
measures
shall
be
24
separated
by
a
distinct
line
appearing
on
the
ballot.
25
Sec.
2.
Section
49.37,
Code
2015,
is
amended
by
adding
the
26
following
new
subsection:
27
NEW
SUBSECTION
.
1A.
Offices
shall
be
arranged
in
groups.
28
Partisan
offices,
nonpartisan
offices,
judges,
and
public
29
measures
shall
be
separated
by
a
distinct
line
appearing
on
the
30
ballot.
31
Sec.
3.
Section
49.57,
subsection
2,
Code
2015,
is
amended
32
to
read
as
follows:
33
2.
In
the
area
of
the
general
election
ballot
for
straight
34
party
voting,
the
party
or
organization
names
shall
be
printed
35
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in
upper
case
and
lower
case
letters
using
a
uniform
font
size
1
for
each
political
party
or
nonparty
political
organization.
2
The
font
size
shall
be
not
less
than
twelve
point
type.
After
3
the
name
of
each
candidate
for
a
partisan
office
the
name
of
4
the
candidate’s
political
party
shall
be
printed
in
at
least
5
six
point
type.
The
names
of
political
parties
and
nonparty
6
political
organizations
may
be
abbreviated
on
the
remainder
of
7
the
ballot
if
both
the
full
name
and
the
abbreviation
appear
8
in
the
“Straight
Party”
and
“Other
Political
Party”
areas
of
9
the
ballot.
10
Sec.
4.
Section
49.98,
Code
2015,
is
amended
to
read
as
11
follows:
12
49.98
Counting
ballots.
13
The
ballots
shall
be
counted
according
to
the
voters’
marks
14
on
them
as
provided
in
sections
49.92
to
49.97
and
49.93
,
15
and
not
otherwise.
If,
for
any
reason,
it
is
impossible
16
to
determine
from
a
ballot,
as
marked,
the
choice
of
the
17
voter
for
any
office,
the
vote
for
that
office
shall
not
be
18
counted.
When
there
is
a
conflict
between
a
straight
party
or
19
organization
vote
for
one
political
party
or
nonparty
political
20
organization
and
the
vote
cast
by
marking
the
voting
target
21
next
to
the
name
of
a
candidate
for
another
political
party
22
or
nonparty
political
organization
on
the
ballot,
the
mark
23
next
to
the
name
of
the
candidate
shall
be
held
to
control,
24
and
the
straight
party
or
organization
vote
in
that
case
shall
25
not
apply
as
to
that
office.
A
ballot
shall
be
rejected
if
26
the
voter
used
a
mark
to
identify
the
voter’s
ballot.
For
27
each
voting
system,
the
The
state
commissioner
shall,
by
rule
28
adopted
pursuant
to
chapter
17A
,
develop
uniform
definitions
of
29
what
constitutes
a
vote.
30
Sec.
5.
REPEAL.
Sections
49.94,
49.95,
49.96,
and
49.97,
31
Code
2015,
are
repealed.
32
EXPLANATION
33
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
34
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
35
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This
bill
eliminates
the
option
of
voting
straight
party
1
for
all
candidates
of
a
political
party
or
nonparty
political
2
organization.
The
bill
applies
to
the
general
election
and
3
elections
at
which
more
than
one
partisan
office
is
to
be
4
filled.
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