HF 2087 (LSB 5922YH (4) 88)

HOUSE FILE 2087

BY  HUNTER

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to straight party voting, and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 49.37, Code 2020, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   49.37  Arrangement of ballot.
   1.  For general elections, and for other elections in which more than one partisan office will be filled, the first section of the ballot shall be for straight party voting.
   a.  Each political party or organization which has nominated candidates for more than one office shall be listed. Instructions to the voter for straight party or organization voting shall be in substantially the following form:
   To vote for all candidates from a single party or organization, mark the voting target next to the party or organization name. Not all parties or organizations have nominated candidates for all offices. Marking a straight party or organization vote does not include votes for nonpartisan offices, judges, or questions.

   b.  Political parties and nonparty political organizations which have nominated candidates for only one office shall be listed below the other political organizations under the following heading:
   Other Political Organizations. The following organizations have nominated candidates for only one office:

   c.  Offices shall be arranged in groups. Partisan offices, nonpartisan offices, judges, and public measures shall be separated by a distinct line appearing on the ballot.
   2.  The commissioner shall arrange the ballot in conformity with the certificate issued by the state commissioner under section 43.73, in that the names of the respective candidates for each political party shall appear in the order they appeared on the certificate, above or to the left of the nonparty political organization candidates.
   3.  The commissioner shall arrange the partisan county offices on the ballot with the board of supervisors first, followed by the other county offices in the same sequence in which they appear in section 39.17. Nonpartisan offices shall be listed after partisan offices.
    Sec. 2.  Section 49.57, subsection 2, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  In the area of the general election ballot for straight party voting, the party or organization names shall be printed in upper case and lower case letters using a uniform font size for each political party or nonparty political organization. The font size shall not be less than twelve-point type.  After the name of each candidate for a partisan office the name of the candidate’s political party shall be printed in at least six point type. The names of political parties and nonparty political organizations may be abbreviated on the remainder of the ballot if both the full name and the abbreviation appear in the voter instruction area and “Straight Party” areas of the ballot.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  49.94  How to mark a straight ticket.
   If all the candidates for whom a voter desires to vote in any election other than the primary election were nominated by the same political party or nonparty political organization, and the voter desires to vote for all candidates nominated by that political party or organization, the voter may do so in any one of the following ways:
   1.  The voter may mark the voting target next to the name of the political party or nonparty political organization in the straight party or organization section of the ballot without marking any voting target next to the name of a candidate nominated by the party or organization.
   2.  The voter may mark the voting target next to the name of the political party or nonparty political organization in the straight party or organization section of the ballot and also mark any or all of the voting targets next to the names of candidates nominated by that party or organization.
    Sec. 4.  NEW SECTION.  49.95  Voting part of ticket only.
   If all the candidates for whom the voter desires to vote were nominated by the same political party or nonparty political organization but the voter does not desire to vote for all of the candidates nominated by the party or organization, the voter shall mark the voting target next to the name of each candidate for whom the voter desires to vote without marking the target next to the name of the party or organization in the straight party or organization section of the ballot.
    Sec. 5.  NEW SECTION.  49.96  Offices with more than one person to be elected.
   Where more than one person is to be elected to the same office at the same election, and all of the candidates for that office for whom the voter desires to vote were nominated by the political party or nonparty political organization for which the voter has marked a straight party or organization vote, the voter need not otherwise indicate the vote for that office. However, if a voter who has marked a straight party or organization ticket also marks the voting targets next to the names of one or more candidates for any office, only the votes cast separately for individual candidates for that office shall be counted. If the voter wishes to vote for candidates who were nominated by different political parties or nonparty political organizations, the voter must mark the voting target for each candidate the voter has chosen, whether or not the voter has also marked a straight party or organization vote.
    Sec. 6.  NEW SECTION.  49.97  How to mark a mixed ticket.
   If all candidates for whom a voter desires to vote were not nominated by the same political party or nonparty political organization, the voter may indicate the candidates of the voter’s choice by marking the ballot in any one of the following ways:
   1.  The voter may mark a straight party or organization vote for the party or nonparty political organization which nominated some of the candidates for whom the voter desires to vote and vote for candidates of other parties or nonparty political organizations by marking the voting targets next to their names.
   2.  The voter may vote for each candidate separately without marking any straight party or organization vote. 
    Sec. 7.  Section 49.98, Code 2020, is amended to read as follows:
   49.98  Counting ballots.
   The ballots shall be counted according to the voters’ marks on them as provided in sections 49.92 and 49.93 to 49.97, and not otherwise. If, for any reason, it is impossible to determine from a ballot, as marked, the choice of the voter for any office, the vote for that office shall not be counted.  When there is a conflict between a straight party or organization vote for one political party or nonparty political organization and the vote cast by marking the voting target next to the name of a candidate for another political party or nonparty political organization on the ballot, the mark next to the name of the candidate shall be held to control, and the straight party or organization vote in that case shall not apply as to that office. A ballot shall be rejected if the voter used a mark to identify the voter’s ballot. The For each voting system, the state commissioner shall, by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 17A, develop uniform definitions of what constitutes a vote.
    Sec. 8.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to elections held on or after the effective date of this Act.
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 straight party voting. The bill allows a voter to vote for all candidates of a single party that has multiple candidates on a ballot by marking a voting target on the first section of the ballot. In cases where more than one person is being elected to a single office, the voter must mark each candidate for whom the voter desires to vote if the candidates do not all belong to the party for which the voter cast a straight party vote. If there is a conflict between a straight party vote and a vote for a candidate not of that party, the vote for the individual controls.
   The bill applies to elections held on or after the effective date of the bill.