SF 328 (LSB 2058SV (2) 86)

SENATE FILE 328

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1173)

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 2, Code 2015, is 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 must 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 or must be clearly postmarked by received by the commissioner through an officially authorized postal service not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day before after the election and received by the commissioner not later than noon on the Monday following the election.
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 counted it must be received in the commissioner’s office before the polls close on election day or it must be clearly postmarked not later than the day before the election and be received by the commissioner by noon on the Monday following the election or it must be received by the commissioner through an officially authorized postal service not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day after the election.