SF 2157 (LSB 5253SV (1) 86)

SENATE FILE 2157

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3020)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to elections administration with respect to the address confidentiality program, satellite absentee voting, and the conduct of school district elections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 9E.6, subsection 1, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  a.  A program participant who is an eligible elector may register to vote with the state commissioner of elections, pursuant to section 48A.8, subsection 1. The name, address, and telephone number of a program participant shall not be listed in the statewide voter registration system.
   b.  A program participant’s voter registration shall not be open to challenge under section 48A.14 based on participation in the program and use of a designated address.
    Sec. 2.  Section 9E.6, Code 2016, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  a.  An absentee ballot submitted by a program participant shall not be subject to a challenge under section 49.79 or 53.31 if the challenge is based on the voter’s participation in the program and use of a designated address.
   b.  In an election contested pursuant to chapter 57:
   (1)  The state commissioner of elections shall, upon the written request of a party to the contest, certify the eligibility of a program participant to vote or the validity of a program participant’s absentee ballot. A written request submitted under this paragraph “b” must contain the voter identification number affixed to the program participant’s absentee ballot.
   (2)  A deposition shall serve as testimony for a program participant. A court or tribunal trying the contest shall coordinate with the secretary to obtain a deposition from a program participant.
    Sec. 3.  Section 53.10, subsection 3, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  During the hours when absentee ballots are available in the office of the commissioner, electioneering shall not be allowed within the sight or hearing of voters at the absentee voting site is a polling place for purposes of section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph “a”.
    Sec. 4.  Section 53.11, subsection 4, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  During the hours when absentee ballots are available at a satellite absentee voting station, electioneering shall not be allowed within the sight or hearing of voters at the satellite absentee voting station is a polling place for purposes of section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph “a”.
    Sec. 5.  Section 275.1, subsection 1, paragraphs b and f, Code 2016, are amended to read as follows:
   b.  “Initial board” means the board of a newly reorganized district that is selected pursuant to section 275.25 or 275.41 and functions until the organizational meeting following the third second regular school election held after the effective date of the reorganization.
   f.  “Regular board” means the board of a reorganized district that begins to function at the organizational meeting following the third second regular school election held after the effective date of the school reorganization, and is comprised of members who were elected to the current terms or were appointed to replace members who were elected.
    Sec. 6.  Section 275.41, subsection 3, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Prior to the effective date of the reorganization, the initial board shall approve a plan that commences at the first regular school election held after the effective date of the merger and is completed at the third second regular school election held after the effective date of the merger, to replace the initial board with the regular board. If the petition specifies a number of directors on the regular board to be different from the number of directors on the initial board, the plan shall provide that the number specified in the petition for the regular board is in place by the time the regular board is formed. The plan shall provide that as nearly as possible one-half of the members of the board shall be elected biennially, and if a special election was held to elect a member to create an odd number of members on the board, the term of that member shall end at the organizational meeting following the third second regular school election held after the effective date.
    Sec. 7.  Section 279.6, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   a.   Except as provided in paragraph “b” and subsection 2, vacancies occurring among the officers or members of a school board shall be filled by the board by appointment. A person so appointed to fill a vacancy in an elective office shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified pursuant to at the next regular school election, unless there is an intervening special election for the school district, in which event a successor shall be elected at the intervening special election, in accordance with section 69.12. To fill a vacancy occurring among the members of a school board, the board shall publish notice in the manner prescribed by section 279.36, stating that the board intends to fill the vacancy by appointment but that the electors of the school district have the right to file a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by a special election conducted pursuant to section 279.7. The board may publish notice in advance if a member of the board submits a resignation to take effect at a future date. The board may make an appointment to fill the vacancy after the notice is published or after the vacancy occurs, whichever is later.
    Sec. 8.  Section 279.7, subsection 1, Code 2016, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  If a vacancy or vacancies occur among the elective officers or members of a school board and the remaining members of the board have not filled the vacancy within thirty days after the vacancy becomes known by the secretary or the board occurs or if a valid petition is submitted to the secretary of the board pursuant to section 279.6, subsection 1, or when the board is reduced below a quorum, the secretary of the board, or if there is no secretary, the area education agency administrator, shall call a special election in the district, subdistrict, or subdistricts, as the case may be, to fill the vacancy or vacancies. The county commissioner of elections shall publish the notices required by law for special elections, and the election shall be held not sooner than thirty days nor later than forty days after the thirtieth day following the day the vacancy becomes known by the secretary or the board occurs. If the secretary fails for more than three days to call an election, the administrator shall call it.
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 elections administration with respect to the address confidentiality program administered by the secretary of state, to satellite absentee voting, and to the conduct of school district elections.
   Relating to the state’s address confidentiality program, the bill provides that a program participant’s voter registration is not subject to challenge based on participation in the program and the use of a designated address nor is it allowed to be the basis for challenges under Code sections 49.79 (election day voting) or 53.31 (absentee voting). In the case of an election contest, the bill provides for the certification of a program participant’s eligibility to vote and the validity of a program participant’s absentee ballot. The bill also provides that the deposition of a program participant shall serve as testimony in a contested election.
   Relating to satellite absentee voting, current law prohibits electioneering within the sight or hearing of voters at the satellite absentee voting station. Under current Code section 39A.4, subsection 1, electioneering and other specified activity is prohibited on the premises of a polling place or within 300 feet of an outside door of a building affording access to a room where the polls are held, or of an outside door of a building affording access to a hallway, corridor, stairway, or other means of reaching the room where the polls are held. The bill provides that a satellite absentee voting station and an absentee voting site at a county commissioner of elections office are also polling places for purposes of Code section 39A.4, subsection 1.
   Relating to school district elections, the bill requires that a plan for school district reorganization be completed at the second regular school election following the effective date of the reorganization. Current law provides that reorganization plans be commenced at the first regular school election and be completed at the third regular school election.
   Also relating to school elections, the bill provides that when a school board vacancy occurs, that a person appointed to fill the vacancy shall hold office until a successor is elected and qualified at the next regular school election unless there is an intervening special election. The bill also makes terminology changes related to the timing required for calling and holding a special election when a school board vacancy occurs and a replacement has not been appointed.