House
File
201
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
201
BY
FINKENAUER
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
voter
registration
and
voting
by
lowering
1
the
age
at
which
a
person
may
register
to
vote
and
the
age
2
at
which
a
registered
voter
is
eligible
to
vote
in
a
primary
3
election
and
including
effective
date
provisions.
4
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
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Section
1.
Section
48A.5,
subsection
2,
paragraph
c,
Code
1
2017,
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
2
c.
(1)
Be
at
least
eighteen
years
of
age.
However,
3
for
purposes
of
voting
in
the
primary
election,
an
eligible
4
elector
shall
be
at
least
eighteen
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
5
the
respective
general
election
or
city
election.
Completed
6
registration
forms
shall
be
accepted
from
registrants
who
are
7
at
least
seventeen
and
one-half
years
of
age
;
however,
.
For
8
an
election
other
than
a
primary
election,
the
registration
9
shall
not
be
effective
until
the
registrant
reaches
the
age
10
of
eighteen.
The
commissioner
of
registration
shall
ensure
11
that
the
birth
date
shown
on
the
registration
form
is
at
12
least
seventeen
and
one-half
years
earlier
than
the
date
the
13
registration
is
processed.
14
(2)
A
registrant
who
is
at
least
seventeen
and
one-half
15
years
of
age
and
who
will
be
eighteen
by
the
date
of
a
pending
16
election
is
a
registered
voter
for
the
pending
election
for
17
purposes
of
chapter
53
.
For
purposes
of
voting
in
a
primary
18
election
under
chapter
43,
a
registrant
who
will
be
at
least
19
eighteen
years
of
age
by
the
date
of
the
respective
general
20
election
or
city
election
is
a
registered
voter
for
the
pending
21
primary
election.
22
Sec.
2.
Section
48A.11,
subsection
3,
Code
2017,
is
amended
23
to
read
as
follows:
24
3.
The
following
questions
and
statement
regarding
25
eligibility
shall
be
included
on
forms
that
may
be
used
for
26
registration
by
mail:
27
[1]
“Are
you
a
citizen
of
the
United
States
of
America?”
28
[2]
“Will
you
be
eighteen
years
of
age
on
or
before
election
29
day?”
30
[3]
“If
you
checked
‘no’
in
response
to
either
of
these
31
questions,
do
not
complete
this
form.”
form.
However,
for
32
purposes
of
voting
in
a
primary
election,
you
may
complete
this
33
form
if
you
are
a
citizen
of
the
United
States
of
America
and
34
you
will
be
at
least
eighteen
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
the
35
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general
election.”
1
Sec.
3.
Section
48A.14,
subsection
1,
paragraph
b,
Code
2
2017,
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
3
b.
The
challenged
registrant
is
less
than
seventeen
and
4
one-half
years
of
age.
5
Sec.
4.
Section
48A.23,
subsection
1,
Code
2017,
is
amended
6
to
read
as
follows:
7
1.
At
least
twice
during
each
school
year,
the
board
of
8
directors
of
each
school
district
operating
a
high
school
and
9
the
authorities
in
charge
of
each
accredited
nonpublic
school
10
shall
offer
the
opportunity
to
register
to
vote
to
each
student
11
who
is
at
least
seventeen
and
one-half
years
of
age.
12
Sec.
5.
Section
48A.26,
subsection
9,
Code
2017,
is
amended
13
to
read
as
follows:
14
9.
When
a
person
who
is
at
least
seventeen
and
one-half
15
years
of
age
but
less
than
eighteen
years
of
age
registers
16
to
vote,
the
commissioner
shall
maintain
a
record
of
the
17
registration
so
as
to
clearly
indicate
that
it
will
not
take
18
effect
until
the
registrant’s
eighteenth
birthday
and
that
the
19
person
is
registered
and
qualifies
to
vote
at
any
election
20
held
on
or
after
that
date.
However,
the
commissioner
shall
21
indicate
that
the
person
is
registered
and
qualifies
to
vote
22
at
the
pending
primary
election
if
the
person
will
be
at
least
23
eighteen
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
the
respective
general
24
election
or
city
election.
25
Sec.
6.
Section
48A.31,
Code
2017,
is
amended
to
read
as
26
follows:
27
48A.31
Deceased
persons
record.
28
The
state
registrar
of
vital
statistics
shall
transmit
29
or
cause
to
be
transmitted
to
the
state
registrar
of
voters,
30
once
each
calendar
quarter,
a
certified
list
of
all
persons
31
seventeen
and
one-half
years
of
age
and
older
in
the
state
32
whose
deaths
have
been
reported
to
the
bureau
of
vital
records
33
of
the
Iowa
department
of
public
health
since
the
previous
list
34
of
decedents
was
certified
to
the
state
registrar
of
voters.
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The
list
shall
be
submitted
according
to
the
specifications
1
of
the
state
registrar
of
voters.
The
commissioner
shall,
in
2
the
month
following
the
end
of
a
calendar
quarter,
run
the
3
statewide
voter
registration
system’s
matching
program
to
4
determine
whether
a
listed
decedent
was
registered
to
vote
in
5
the
county
and
shall
immediately
cancel
the
registration
of
any
6
person
named
on
the
list
of
decedents.
7
Sec.
7.
Section
49.79,
subsection
2,
paragraph
b,
Code
2017,
8
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
9
b.
The
For
an
election
other
than
a
primary
election,
the
10
challenged
person
is
less
than
eighteen
years
of
age
as
of
the
11
date
of
the
election
at
which
the
person
is
offering
to
vote.
12
For
a
primary
election,
the
challenged
person
will
be
less
than
13
eighteen
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
the
respective
general
14
election
or
city
election.
15
Sec.
8.
Section
49.81,
subsection
4,
paragraph
a,
Code
2017,
16
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
17
a.
(1)
The
individual
envelopes
used
for
each
provisional
18
ballot
cast
pursuant
to
subsection
1
shall
have
space
for
the
19
voter’s
name,
date
of
birth,
and
address
and
shall
have
printed
20
on
them
the
following:
21
I
am
a
United
States
citizen,
at
least
eighteen
years
of
22
age
or,
for
purposes
of
voting
in
a
primary
election,
I
23
will
be
at
least
eighteen
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
the
24
respective
general
election
or
city
election
.
I
believe
I
am
25
a
registered
voter
of
this
county
and
I
am
eligible
to
vote
in
26
this
election.
27
.............
28
(signature
of
voter)
(date)
29
(2)
The
following
information
is
to
be
provided
by
the
30
precinct
election
official:
31
Reason
for
casting
provisional
ballot:
32
................
.
33
................
.
34
..........
.
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(signature
of
precinct
1
election
official)
2
Sec.
9.
Section
280.9A,
subsection
3,
Code
2017,
is
amended
3
to
read
as
follows:
4
3.
At
least
twice
during
each
school
year,
the
board
of
5
directors
of
each
local
public
school
district
operating
a
6
high
school
and
the
authorities
in
charge
of
each
accredited
7
nonpublic
school
operating
a
high
school
shall
offer
the
8
opportunity
to
register
to
vote
to
each
student
who
is
at
least
9
seventeen
and
one-half
years
of
age,
as
required
by
section
10
48A.23
.
11
Sec.
10.
Section
602.8102,
subsection
15,
Code
2017,
is
12
amended
to
read
as
follows:
13
15.
Monthly,
notify
the
county
commissioner
of
registration
14
and
the
state
registrar
of
voters
of
persons
seventeen
and
15
one-half
years
of
age
and
older
who
have
been
convicted
of
a
16
felony
during
the
preceding
calendar
month
or
persons
who
at
17
any
time
during
the
preceding
calendar
month
have
been
legally
18
declared
to
be
a
person
who
is
incompetent
to
vote
as
that
term
19
is
defined
in
section
48A.2
.
20
Sec.
11.
EFFECTIVE
DATE.
This
Act
takes
effect
January
1,
21
2018.
22
EXPLANATION
23
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
24
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
25
This
bill
relates
to
voter
registration
and
voting.
26
Current
law
allows
an
eligible
elector
who
is
at
least
17
27
and
one-half
years
of
age
to
register
to
vote,
but,
except
28
for
purposes
of
requesting
and
voting
an
absentee
ballot,
the
29
registration
does
not
become
effective
until
the
registrant
30
turns
18
years
of
age.
The
bill
allows
an
otherwise
eligible
31
elector
to
register
to
vote
at
the
age
of
17.
32
The
bill
also
allows
a
registered
voter
who
is
not
18
years
33
of
age
to
vote
in
a
primary
election
if
the
voter
will
be
at
34
least
18
years
of
age
on
the
date
of
the
respective
general
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election
or
city
election.
1
The
bill
makes
additional
conforming
changes.
2
The
bill
takes
effect
January
1,
2018.
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