House File 2354 - Introduced HOUSE FILE 2354 BY MASCHER , WINCKLER , COHOON , DONAHUE , NIELSEN , HUNTER , GJERDE , and WOLFE A BILL FOR An Act relating to the conduct of elections, including the 1 counting and recounting of ballots and the certification of 2 results. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh

H.F. 2354 Section 1. Section 49.98, Code 2022, is amended to read as 1 follows: 2 49.98 Counting ballots. 3 The ballots shall be counted according to the voters’ marks 4 on them as provided in sections 49.92 and 49.93 , and not 5 otherwise. If, for any reason, it is impossible to determine 6 from a ballot, as marked, the choice of the voter for any 7 office, the vote for that office shall not be counted. A 8 ballot shall be rejected if the voter used a mark to identify 9 the voter’s ballot. The state commissioner shall, by rule 10 adopted pursuant to chapter 17A , develop uniform definitions of 11 what constitutes a vote. 12 Sec. 2. Section 50.24, subsection 3, Code 2022, is amended 13 to read as follows: 14 3. The Not later than one week after convening, the board 15 shall certify an election canvass summary report prepared by 16 the commissioner. The election canvass summary report shall 17 include the results of the election, including scatterings, 18 overvotes, and undervotes, by precinct for each contest and 19 public measure that appeared on the ballot of the election 20 being canvassed. However, if paper ballots are used pursuant 21 to section 49.26 , the election canvass summary report shall not 22 include overvotes and undervotes. 23 Sec. 3. Section 50.38, Code 2022, is amended to read as 24 follows: 25 50.38 Time of state canvass. 26 Not later than twenty-seven thirty-four days after the 27 day of the election, the secretary of state shall present to 28 the board of state canvassers abstracts of votes cast at the 29 election showing the number of ballots cast for each office and 30 a summary of the results for each office, showing the votes 31 cast in each county. The state board of canvassers shall 32 review the results compiled by the secretary of state and, if 33 the results are accurately tabulated, the state board shall 34 approve the canvass. 35 -1- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 1/ 6

H.F. 2354 Sec. 4. Section 50.48, subsection 1, paragraph a, 1 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2022, is amended to read as 2 follows: 3 The county board of canvassers shall order a recount of the 4 votes cast for a particular office or nomination in one or more 5 specified each election precincts in that county precinct where 6 a vote was cast for an office if a written request for a recount 7 is made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the third day following 8 the county board’s canvass of the election in question. For 9 a city runoff election held pursuant to section 376.9 , the 10 written request must be made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the 11 day following the county board’s canvass of the city runoff 12 election. The request shall be filed with the commissioner of 13 that county and shall be signed by either of the following: 14 Sec. 5. Section 50.48, subsection 1, Code 2022, is amended 15 by adding the following new paragraph: 16 NEW PARAGRAPH . c. Immediately upon receipt of a request for 17 a recount for an office filled by the electors of more than one 18 county, the commissioner shall send a copy of the request to 19 each commissioner of a county where a ballot for the office was 20 cast, who shall conduct a recount as provided in this section. 21 A candidate for an office filled by the electors of the entire 22 state shall not be required to pay more than one bond for a 23 recount. 24 Sec. 6. Section 50.48, subsection 3, Code 2022, is amended 25 to read as follows: 26 3. a. The recount shall be conducted by a board which shall 27 consist of one of the following : 28 (1) For a county in which three thousand five hundred or 29 fewer ballots were cast: 30 (1) (a) A designee of the candidate requesting the recount, 31 who shall be named in the written request when it is filed. 32 (2) (b) A designee of the apparent winning candidate, who 33 shall be named by that candidate at or before the time the 34 board is required to convene. 35 -2- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 2/ 6

H.F. 2354 (3) (c) A person chosen jointly by the members designated 1 under subparagraphs (1) subparagraph divisions (a) and (2) (b) . 2 (2) For a county in which more than three thousand five 3 hundred but not more than twelve thousand ballots were cast: 4 (a) Two designees of the candidate requesting the recount, 5 who shall be named in the written request when it is filed. 6 (b) Two designees of the apparent winning candidate, who 7 shall be named by that candidate at or before the time the 8 board is required to convene. 9 (c) Two persons chosen jointly by the members designated 10 under subparagraph divisions (a) and (b). 11 (3) For a county in which more than twelve thousand ballots 12 were cast: 13 (a) Three designees of the candidate requesting the 14 recount, who shall be named in the written request when it is 15 filed. 16 (b) Three designees of the apparent winning candidate, who 17 shall be named by that candidate at or before the time the 18 board is required to convene. 19 (c) Three persons chosen jointly by the members designated 20 under subparagraph divisions (a) and (b). 21 b. The commissioner shall convene the persons designated 22 under paragraph “a” , subparagraphs subparagraph (1) and , 23 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), subparagraph (2), 24 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), or subparagraph (3), 25 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), not later than 9:00 a.m. 26 on the seventh day following the county board’s canvass of the 27 election in question. If those two members cannot agree on the 28 third additional member or members by 8:00 a.m. on the ninth 29 day following the canvass, they shall immediately so notify the 30 chief judge of the judicial district in which the canvass is 31 occurring, who shall appoint the third additional member or 32 members not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day following 33 the canvass. 34 Sec. 7. Section 50.48, subsection 4, paragraphs a and c, 35 -3- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 3/ 6

H.F. 2354 Code 2022, are amended to read as follows: 1 a. When all members of the recount board have been selected, 2 the board shall undertake and complete the required recount by 3 hand as expeditiously as reasonably possible. The commissioner 4 or the commissioner’s designee shall supervise the handling 5 of ballots to ensure that the ballots are protected from 6 alteration or damage. The board shall open only the sealed 7 ballot containers from the precincts specified to be recounted 8 in the request or by the recount board. The board shall 9 recount only the ballots which were voted and counted for the 10 office in question, including any disputed ballots returned as 11 required in section 50.5 . If automatic tabulating equipment 12 was used to count the ballots, the recount board may request 13 the commissioner to retabulate the ballots using the automatic 14 tabulating equipment. The same program used for tabulating the 15 votes on election day shall be used at the recount unless the 16 program is believed or known to be flawed. The board shall 17 presume that any mark in a voting target constitutes a vote 18 for the candidate or public measure listed next to the target 19 unless the board finds that the mark was made inadvertently or 20 that the voter attempted to erase the mark. 21 c. The ballots shall be resealed by the recount board before 22 adjournment and shall be preserved as required by section 23 50.12 . At the conclusion of the recount, the recount board 24 shall make and file with the commissioner a written report of 25 its findings, which shall be signed by at least two two-thirds 26 of the members of the recount board. The recount board shall 27 complete the recount and file its report not later than the 28 eighteenth day following the county board’s canvass of the 29 election in question. 30 Sec. 8. Section 50.48, subsection 4, paragraph b, Code 2022, 31 is amended by striking the paragraph. 32 EXPLANATION 33 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 34 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 35 -4- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 4/ 6

H.F. 2354 This bill relates to the conduct of elections, including the 1 counting and recounting of ballots and the certification of 2 results. The bill strikes a provision of law making a ballot 3 invalid if the voter placed an identifying mark on the ballot. 4 The bill requires a county board of supervisors to certify the 5 results of an election within one week after convening. The 6 bill changes the date by which the secretary of state must 7 certify an election from 27 days after the election to 34 days 8 after the election. 9 The bill requires all recounts of ballots cast for an office 10 to include each precinct in which a ballot was cast for that 11 office. If ballots were cast for the office in more than one 12 county, the county commissioner of elections who receives a 13 request for a recount shall immediately forward the request to 14 each other county commissioner of elections of a county where a 15 ballot was cast for that office, who shall conduct a recount 16 for the office. A candidate for a statewide office shall not 17 be required to pay more than one bond for a recount. 18 The bill changes the size of a recount board based on the 19 number of ballots cast in the election. For a county in which 20 3,500 or fewer ballots were cast, the bill requires a recount 21 board to consist of one designee of each contestant and one 22 person agreed upon by the designees. For a county in which at 23 least 3,501 but not more than 12,000 ballots were cast, the 24 bill requires a recount board to consist of two designees of 25 each contestant and two persons agreed upon by the designees. 26 For a county in which 12,001 ballots or more were cast, the 27 bill requires a recount board to consist of three designees of 28 each contestant and three persons agreed upon by the designees. 29 The bill requires a report of a recount board to be signed by 30 two-thirds of the members of the board. 31 The bill strikes a provision allowing a recount board to 32 use automatic tabulating equipment to retabulate ballots and 33 requires a recount board to conduct each recount by hand. The 34 bill also requires a recount board to presume that any mark in 35 -5- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 5/ 6

H.F. 2354 a voting target constitutes a vote for the candidate or public 1 measure listed next to the target unless the board finds that 2 the mark was made inadvertently or that the voter attempted to 3 erase the mark. 4 -6- LSB 6092YH (3) 89 ss/jh 6/ 6