Senate File 2081 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2081 BY SALMON A BILL FOR An Act relating to the casting of provisional ballots by 1 persons registering to vote on election day or when casting 2 an in-person absentee ballot. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5299XS (2) 91 ss/ns

S.F. 2081 Section 1. Section 48A.7A, subsection 5, Code 2026, is 1 amended to read as follows: 2 5. a. If a person registers to vote under this section at 3 a polling place that has access to an electronic poll book, 4 the precinct election official shall verify against a database 5 maintained by the state commissioner that the person has not 6 been convicted of a felony or, if the person has been convicted 7 of a felony, the person has had the person’s voting rights 8 restored. If the precinct election official determines that 9 the person has not been convicted of a felony or has been 10 convicted of a felony but the person’s voting rights have been 11 restored, the precinct election official shall furnish a ballot 12 to the voter. If the database indicates that the person has 13 been convicted of a felony and that the person’s voting rights 14 have not been restored, the precinct election official shall 15 challenge the person under section 49.79 . 16 b. If a A person who registers to vote under this section 17 at a polling place that does not have access to an electronic 18 poll book, the person shall be permitted to cast a provisional 19 ballot under section 49.81 , and the absentee and special voters 20 precinct board, appointed pursuant to section 53.23 , shall 21 verify against a database maintained by the state commissioner 22 that the person has not been convicted of a felony or, if the 23 person has been convicted of a felony, the person’s voting 24 rights have been restored. If information in the database 25 indicates that the person has not been convicted of a felony 26 or, if the person has been convicted of a felony, the person’s 27 voting rights have been restored, the voter’s provisional 28 ballot shall be counted. If the database indicates that the 29 person has been convicted of a felony and the person’s voting 30 rights have not been restored, the voter’s provisional ballot 31 shall be rejected. 32 Sec. 2. Section 48A.14, subsection 4, Code 2026, is amended 33 to read as follows: 34 4. A challenge may be filed at any time. A challenge filed 35 -1- LSB 5299XS (2) 91 ss/ns 1/ 2

S.F. 2081 less than seventy days before a regularly scheduled election 1 shall not be processed until after the pending election unless 2 the challenge is filed within twenty days of the commissioner’s 3 receipt of the challenged registrant’s registration form or 4 notice of change to an existing registration. A challenge 5 filed against a person registering to vote pursuant to section 6 48A.7A is considered a challenge to a person offering to vote 7 and must be filed under section 49.79 . 8 Sec. 3. Section 49.77, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 2026, 9 is amended to read as follows: 10 b. If the voter informs the precinct election official that 11 the voter resides in the precinct and is not registered to 12 vote, the voter may register to vote pursuant to section 48A.7A 13 and cast a ballot. If such a voter is unable to establish 14 identity and residency in the manner provided in section 15 48A.7A, subsection 1 , paragraph “b” or “c” , the voter shall be 16 allowed to cast a ballot in the manner prescribed by section 17 49.81 . 18 EXPLANATION 19 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 20 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 21 This bill requires a person registering to vote on election 22 day or when casting an in-person absentee ballot to cast a 23 provisional ballot. The absentee and special voters precinct 24 board shall then count the provisional ballot only if the board 25 determines that the voter was eligible to vote. Under current 26 law, a person registering to vote on election day or when 27 casting an in-person absentee ballot may cast a regular ballot 28 if the polling place can verify the voter’s eligibility to vote 29 using an electronic poll book. 30 -2- LSB 5299XS (2) 91 ss/ns 2/ 2