HF 506 (LSB 2058HV (1) 86)

HOUSE FILE 506

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 146)

A BILL FOR

An Act related to absentee ballot deadlines.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 53.17, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  The sealed return envelope may be mailed to the commissioner by the registered voter or by the voter’s designee. If mailed by the voter’s designee, the envelope must be mailed within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or within time to be postmarked not later than the day before the election received in the commissioner’s office before the polls close on election day, whichever is earlier.
    Sec. 2.  Section 53.17, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2015, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  In order for the ballot to be counted, the return envelope must be received in the commissioner’s office before the polls close on election day or be clearly postmarked by an officially authorized postal service not later than the day before the election and received by the commissioner not later than noon on the Monday following the election, except for ballots received from a member of the armed forces of the United States pursuant to subchapter II of this chapter, which must be received by noon on the day before the supervisors canvass the votes.
   3.  If the law authorizing the election specifies that the supervisors canvass the votes earlier than the Monday following the election, absentee ballots returned through the mail must be received not later than the time established for the canvass by the board of supervisors for that election. The commissioner shall contact the post office serving the commissioner’s office at the latest practicable hour before the canvass by the board of supervisors 10:00 a.m. on the day before the board of supervisors canvass the votes for that election, and shall arrange for absentee ballots received in that post office but not yet delivered to the commissioner’s office to be brought to the commissioner’s office before the canvass for that election by the board of supervisors noon on that day.
    Sec. 3.  Section 53.17, subsection 4, paragraph f, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   f.  A statement that the completed absentee ballot will be delivered to the commissioner’s office within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or before the closing of the polls on election day, whichever is earlier, or that the completed absentee ballot will be mailed to the commissioner within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or within time to be postmarked not later than the day before the election received in the commissioner’s office before the polls close on election day, whichever is earlier.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with

the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to absentee ballot deadlines. Under current law, an absentee ballot received by a county commissioner of elections is valid if it is received by the commissioner before the polls close on election day or if it is clearly postmarked by an officially authorized postal service not later than the day before the election and is received by the commissioner not later than noon on the Monday following the election. Under the bill, for an absentee ballot to be valid it must be received by the commissioner before the polls close on election day, unless the absentee ballot is completed by a military or overseas voter. The bill provides that for a military or overseas voter’s ballot to be valid, it must be received by noon on the day before the supervisors canvass the votes.
   The bill makes additional corresponding changes.