House Study Bill 624 - Introduced HOUSE FILE _____ BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON VANDER LINDEN) A BILL FOR An Act relating to the administration of city elections by 1 permitting the county commissioner of elections to designate 2 a city clerk to receive city candidate filings. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5975YC (5) 86 aw/sc

H.F. _____ Section 1. Section 376.4, subsections 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, 1 Code 2016, are amended to read as follows: 2 1. a. An eligible elector of a city may become a candidate 3 for an elective city office by filing with the county 4 commissioner of elections responsible under section 47.2 5 for conducting elections held for the city a valid petition 6 requesting that the elector’s name be placed on the ballot for 7 that office , or by filing a valid petition with the designated 8 city clerk . The petition must be filed not more than 9 seventy-one days and not less than forty-seven days before the 10 date of the election, and must be signed by eligible electors 11 equal in number to at least two percent of those who voted to 12 fill the same office at the last regular city election, but not 13 less than ten persons. However, for those cities which may be 14 required to hold a primary election, the petition must be filed 15 not more than eighty-five days and not less than sixty-eight 16 days before the date of the regular city election. Nomination 17 petitions shall be filed not later than 5:00 p.m. on the last 18 day for filing. 19 b. The petitioners for an individual seeking election from 20 a ward must be residents of the ward at the time of signing the 21 petition. An individual is not eligible for election from a 22 ward unless the individual is a resident of the ward at the 23 time the individual files the petition and at the time of 24 election. 25 c. The county commissioner may designate the city clerk of 26 a city to receive nomination papers for elective city offices. 27 If so designated, the city clerk shall have all the duties of 28 the county commissioner provided in this section. 29 3. On the final date for filing nomination papers the office 30 of the county commissioner and the office of the city clerk 31 designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall remain open until 32 5:00 p.m. 33 4. The county commissioner or the city clerk designated 34 pursuant to subsection 1 shall review each petition and 35 -1- LSB 5975YC (5) 86 aw/sc 1/ 3

H.F. _____ affidavit of candidacy for completeness following the standards 1 in section 45.5 and shall accept the petition for filing 2 if on its face it appears to have the requisite number of 3 signatures and if it is timely filed. The county commissioner 4 or the designated city clerk shall note upon each petition and 5 affidavit accepted for filing the date and time that they were 6 filed. The county commissioner or the designated city clerk 7 shall return any rejected nomination papers to the person on 8 whose behalf the nomination papers were filed. 9 5. Nomination papers filed with the county commissioner or 10 the city clerk designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall be 11 available for public inspection. 12 6. The city clerk shall deliver the text of any public 13 measure being submitted by the city council to the electorate 14 to the county commissioner of elections . If the county 15 commissioner has designated the city clerk to receive 16 nomination papers for elective city offices pursuant to 17 subsection 1, the city clerk shall deliver the nomination 18 papers accepted for filing to the county commissioner. The 19 text of any public measure and nomination papers required to 20 be delivered under this subsection shall be delivered no later 21 than the day after the last day on which nomination petitions 22 can be filed, and not later than 5:00 p.m. 12:00 noon on that 23 day. 24 EXPLANATION 25 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 26 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 27 This bill relates to the administration of city elections. 28 Under the bill, the county commissioner of elections (county 29 auditor) is allowed to designate a city clerk to receive 30 candidate filings for city offices, and a designated city clerk 31 is responsible for carrying out certain duties related to the 32 review and acceptance or rejection of nomination papers. The 33 office of the city clerk designated to receive such filings is 34 required to remain open until 5:00 p.m. on the final day for 35 -2- LSB 5975YC (5) 86 aw/sc 2/ 3

H.F. _____ filing such nomination papers, and the city clerk is required 1 to deliver nomination papers and the text of any public measure 2 to the county commissioner by 12:00 noon on the day after the 3 nomination petition filing deadline. Under current law, city 4 clerks are required to deliver the text of any public measure 5 to the county commissioner by 5:00 p.m. on the day of the 6 petition filing deadline. 7 -3- LSB 5975YC (5) 86 aw/sc 3/ 3