SSB 1013 (LSB 1934XC (2) 91)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY CHAIRPERSON WEBSTER)

A BILL FOR

An Act requiring primary elections for the nomination of candidates for city, school district, and merged area elections, and including applicability provisions.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 43.24, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (4), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   (4)  Those filed with the city clerk or the secretary of the school board under this chapter, at least thirty-six days before the city or school primary election.
    Sec. 2.  Section 43.24, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  d.  Objections filed with the secretary of the school board shall be considered as provided in paragraph “b”. The secretary of the school board shall forward the objection to the commissioner of a county including the school district.
    Sec. 3.  Section 43.78, subsection 1, paragraph f, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   f.  For any other partisan office filled by the voters of a subdivision of a county, by those members of the party’s county central committee who represent the precincts lying within that district, who shall be convened or reconvened as appropriate by the county party chairperson. However, this paragraph shall not apply to partisan city offices in special charter cities for which candidates are nominated under this chapter, but such ballot vacancies shall be filled as provided by section 43.116.
    Sec. 4.  Section 43.112, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   43.112  Nominations in certain cities and school districts.
   1.  This chapter shall, so far as applicable, govern the nominations of candidates by political parties for all offices to be filled by a direct vote of the people in cities acting under a special charter in 1973 and having a population of over fifty thousand, except all such cities as choose by special election to conduct nonpartisan city elections under the provisions of chapter 44, 45, or 376. An election on the question of conducting city elections in such a special charter city on a nonpartisan basis may be called by the city council on its own initiative, and shall be called by the council upon receipt of a petition of the voters which so requests and is presented in conformity with section 362.4, but a special election on that question shall be held concurrently with any election being held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November of any odd-numbered year and school districts.
   2.  Sections 43.114 through 43.118 shall apply only to all cities to which this chapter is made applicable by this section and school districts.
    Sec. 5.  Section 43.114, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   43.114  Time of holding special charter city or school district primary.
   In special charter cities and school districts holding a city or school district primary election under the provisions of section 43.112, the primary shall be held on the first Tuesday in October of the year in which regular city or school elections are held.
    Sec. 6.  Section 43.115, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  All candidates for nominations to be made in city primary elections held pursuant to section 43.112 shall file nomination papers with the city clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. forty days before the date of the election as established by section 43.114, except that candidates for precinct committee member shall file affidavits of candidacy as required by section 420.130. The number of eligible electors signing petitions required for printing the name of a candidate upon the official primary ballot shall be one hundred for an office to be filled by the voters of the entire city and twenty-five for an office to be filled by the voters of a subdivision of the city.
    Sec. 7.  Section 43.115, Code 2025, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  All candidates for nominations to be made in school district primary elections held pursuant to section 43.112 shall file nomination papers with the secretary of the school board no later than 5:00 p.m. forty days before the date of the election as established by section 43.114. The number of eligible electors signing petitions required for printing the name of a candidate upon the official primary ballot shall be twenty-five for a seat to be filled by the voters of the entire school district and ten for a seat to be filled by the voters of a director district.
    Sec. 8.  Section 43.116, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   43.116  Ballot vacancies in special charter city and school district elections.
   1.  A vacancy on the ballot for an election at which city officers or school board members are to be chosen, and for which candidates have been nominated under this chapter, exists when any political party lacks a candidate for an office to be filled at that election because:
   a.  Either no person filed at the time required by section 43.115 as a candidate for the party’s nomination for that office in the city or school primary election held under section 43.112, or all persons who did so subsequently withdrew as candidates, were found to lack the requisite requirements for the office, or died before the date of the city or school primary election, and no candidate received a number of write-in votes sufficient for nomination under section 43.53; or
   b.  The person nominated in the city or school primary election as the party’s candidate for that office withdrew by giving written notice to that effect to the city clerk or secretary of the school board not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day of the canvass of that city or school primary election.
   2.  A ballot vacancy as defined by this section may be filled by the city central committee of the party on whose ticket the vacancy exists or, in the case of an officer elected by the voters of a district within the city, by those members of the committee who represent the precincts lying within that district. The name of a candidate so designated to fill such a ballot vacancy shall be submitted in writing to the city clerk or school district not later than 5:00 p.m. on the seventh day following the city or school primary election.
   3.  If a special election is held to fill a vacancy in an elective city office or school board seat, nominations by political parties shall be made following the provisions of subsection 2.
    Sec. 9.  Section 43.118, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   43.118  Expense.
   1.  The entire expense of conducting the city primary election and preparation of election registers shall be audited by the city council and paid by the city.
   2.  The entire expense of conducting the school primary election and preparation of election registers shall be audited by the school board and paid by the school district.
    Sec. 10.  Section 45.1, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  Except as otherwise provided in subsection 10, in In cities having a population of twenty-five thousand or greater according to the most recent federal decennial census, nominations may be made by nomination papers signed by not less than seventy-five eligible electors who are residents of the city or ward.
    Sec. 11.  Section 45.1, subsection 10, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 12.  Section 49.31, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   d.  On the regular and special city election and school election ballots the names of candidates for city, school district, and merged area offices shall be arranged by drawing lots for position. The commissioner shall hold the drawing on the second business day following the deadline for filing of nomination papers or petitions under sections 260C.15, 277.4, and 376.4. If a candidate withdraws, dies, or is removed from the ballot after the ballot position of names has been determined, such candidate’s name shall be removed from the ballot, and the order of the remaining names shall not be changed.
    Sec. 13.  Section 50.48, subsection 1, paragraph a, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   The county board of canvassers shall order a recount of the votes cast for a particular office or nomination in one or more specified election precincts in that county if a written request for a recount is made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the third day following the county board’s canvass of the election in question. For a city runoff election held pursuant to section 376.9, the written request must be made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the day following the county board’s canvass of the city runoff election. The request shall be filed with the commissioner of that county and shall be signed by either of the following:
    Sec. 14.  Section 50.48, subsection 8, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 15.  Section 69.12, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (2), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   (2)  The candidate filing deadline specified in section 376.4 for the regular city election or the filing deadline specified in section 372.13, subsection 2, for a special city election.
    Sec. 16.  Section 260C.15, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   2.  A candidate for member of the board of directors of a merged area shall be nominated by a petition signed by not less than fifty eligible electors of the director district from which the member is to be elected. The petition shall state the number of the director district from which the candidate seeks election, and the candidate’s name and status as an eligible elector of the director district. Signers of the petition, in addition to signing their names, shall show their residence, including street and number if any, the school district in which they reside, and the date they signed the petition. A person may sign nomination petitions for more than one candidate for the same office, and the signature is not invalid solely because the person signed nomination petitions for one or more other candidates for the office. The petition shall include the affidavit of the candidate being nominated, stating the candidate’s name and residence, and that the individual is a candidate, is eligible for the office sought, and if elected will qualify for the office as provided in section 277.4.
   3.  Nomination papers on behalf of candidates for member of the board of directors of a merged area shall be filed with the secretary of the board not earlier than seventy-one days nor later than 5:00 p.m. on the forty-seventh day prior to the election at which members of the board are to be elected. On the day following the last day on which certificates of nomination petitions can be filed, and no later than 5:00 p.m. on that day, the secretary shall deliver all certificates of nomination petitions so filed, together with the text of any public measure being submitted by the board of directors to the electorate, to the merged area’s controlling county commissioner of elections under section 47.2. That controlling commissioner shall certify the names of candidates, and the text and summary of any public measure being submitted to the electorate, to all county commissioners of elections in the merged area by the forty-second day prior to the election.
    Sec. 17.  Section 260C.15, subsection 4, paragraphs a and b, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   a.  Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for the office in question.
   b.  The objection must be filed with the secretary of the board at least forty-two days before the day of the election at which members of the board are elected. When objections are filed, notice shall immediately be given to the candidate affected, addressed to the candidate’s place of residence as given on the candidate’s affidavit, stating that objections have been made to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to the eligibility of the candidate, and also stating the time and place the objections will be considered. The board secretary shall also attempt to notify the candidate by telephone if the candidate provided a telephone number on the candidate’s affidavit.
    Sec. 18.  Section 275.25, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  The election shall be conducted as provided in section sections 277.3, and nomination petitions shall be filed pursuant to section 277.4, except as otherwise provided in this subsection. Nomination petitions shall be filed with the secretary of the board of the existing school district in which the candidate resides not less than twenty-eight days before the date set for the special school election. The secretary of the board, or the secretary’s designee, shall be present in the secretary’s office until 5:00 p.m. on the final day to file the nomination papers. The nomination papers shall be delivered to the commissioner no later than 5:00 p.m. on the twenty-seventh day before the election.
    Sec. 19.  Section 277.4, Code 2025, is amended by striking the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
   277.4  Nominations —— primary elections.
   Nominations shall be made by primary elections held pursuant to sections 43.112 through 43.118.
    Sec. 20.  Section 277.5, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for the office in question. The objection must be filed with the secretary of the school board at least forty-two days before the day of the school election. When objections are filed notice shall forthwith be given to the candidate affected, addressed to the candidate’s place of residence as given on the candidate’s affidavit, stating that objections have been made to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to the eligibility of the candidate, and also stating the time and place the objections will be considered.
    Sec. 21.  Section 279.6, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  If within fourteen days after publication of a notice required pursuant to paragraph “a” for a vacancy that occurs more than one hundred eighty days before the next regular school election, or after the filing period closes pursuant to section 277.4, subsection 1, for the next regular school election, there is filed with the secretary of the school board a petition requesting a special election to fill the vacancy, an appointment to fill the vacancy is temporary until a successor is elected and qualified, and the board shall call a special election pursuant to section 279.7, to fill the vacancy for the remaining balance of the unexpired term.
    Sec. 22.  Section 279.7, subsection 4, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   4.  Nomination petitions Nominations shall be filed made in the manner provided in section 277.4, except that the petitions shall be filed not less than twenty-five days before the date set for the election.
    Sec. 23.  Section 331.383, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   331.383  Duties and powers relating to elections.
   The board shall ensure that the county commissioner of elections conducts primary, general, city, school, and special elections in accordance with applicable state law. The board shall canvass elections in accordance with sections 43.49 through 43.51, 43.60 through 43.62, 46.24, 50.13, 50.24 through 50.29, 50.44 through 50.47, 260C.39, 275.25, 277.20, 376.1, and 376.7, and 376.9. The board shall prepare and deliver a list of persons nominated in accordance with section 43.55, provide for a recount in accordance with section 50.48, provide for election precincts in accordance with sections 49.3, 49.4, 49.6 through 49.8, and 49.11, pay election costs as provided in section 47.3, participate in election contests as provided in sections 62.1A and 62.9, and perform other election duties required by state law. The board shall may provide for the use of an optical scan voting system as provided defined in sections 52.2 and 52.3 section 52.1, or may provide for the counting of ballots by election officials as provided in section 49.26, and shall exercise other election powers as provided by state law.
    Sec. 24.  Section 376.3, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   376.3  Nominations.
   Candidates for elective city offices must be nominated as provided in sections 376.4 through 376.9, unless by ordinance a city chooses the provisions of chapter 44 or 45. However, a city acting under a special charter in 1973 and having a population of over fifty thousand shall continue to hold partisan elections as provided in sections 43.112 through 43.118 and sections 420.126 376.12 through 420.137, unless the city by election as provided in section 43.112 chooses to conduct city elections under this chapter or chapter 44 or 45 376.23. The choice of one of these options by such a special charter city does not otherwise affect the validity of the city’s charter. However, special charter cities which choose to exercise the option to conduct nonpartisan city elections may choose, in the same manner the original decision was made, to resume holding city elections on a partisan basis.
    Sec. 25.  Section 376.4, subsections 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, Code 2025, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 26.  Section 376.4, subsection 6, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   6.  The city clerk shall deliver the text of any public measure being submitted by the city council to the electorate to the county commissioner of elections. If the county commissioner has designated the city clerk to receive nomination papers for elective city offices pursuant to subsection 1, the city clerk shall deliver the nomination papers accepted for filing to the county commissioner. The text of any public measure and nomination papers required to be delivered under this subsection section shall be delivered no later than the day after the last day on which nomination petitions can be filed, and not later than 12:00 noon on that day.
    Sec. 27.  Section 376.5, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   376.5  Publication of ballot.
   Notice for each regular, special, primary, or runoff city election shall be published by the county commissioner of elections as provided in section 362.3, except that notice of a regular, primary, or runoff election may be published not less than four days before the date of the election. The published notice must list the names of all candidates, and must not contain any party designations. The published notice must include any question to be submitted to the voters. The notice may contain one or more facsimiles of the portion of the ballot containing the first arrangement of candidates as prescribed by section 49.31, subsection 2.
    Sec. 28.  Section 376.7, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  If a primary election is necessary, it The primary election shall be held on the Tuesday four weeks before the date of the regular city election. For each office on the ballot, a voter shall only vote for the number of persons to be elected to that office at the regular city election. The county board of supervisors shall publicly canvass the tally lists of the vote cast in the primary election, following the procedures prescribed in section 50.24, at a meeting to be held on the second day following the primary election, and beginning no earlier than 1:00 p.m. on that day.
    Sec. 29.  Section 376.8, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 30.  Section 376.11, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Except in cities where the council has chosen a runoff election in lieu of a primary, following Following the resignation of a person who was elected by write-in votes, the city clerk shall notify the person who received the next highest number of votes cast for the office that the person may assume the office. If there is more than one person who received the next highest number of votes cast for the office, lots shall be drawn pursuant to section 50.44 to determine the person who received the next highest number of votes. If the person accepts the position, the person shall be considered the duly elected officer unless, within ten days after the clerk has given notice, a petition requesting a special election is filed by eligible electors of the city equal in number to twenty-five percent of the number of persons who voted for the office at the election. If the person declines, the person shall do so in writing to the city clerk within ten days and the office shall be considered vacant at the end of the term. The vacancy shall be filled pursuant to the provisions of section 372.13, subsection 2. If the council chooses to appoint, the appointment may be made before the end of the current term.
    Sec. 31.  Section 376.11, subsections 4 and 5, Code 2025, are amended by striking the subsections.
    Sec. 32.  Section 420.126, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   420.126  City convention.
   Political parties in special charter cities having a population of fifty thousand or more a city shall hold a city convention within the city on the second Friday following the primary election. The city central committee shall set the time and place of the convention and shall file the same in the office of the city clerk at least ten days prior to the convention.
    Sec. 33.  Section 420.137, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   420.137  Applicable laws.
   All laws governing political parties and the nomination of candidates in elections shall, as far as applicable, govern the political parties and nomination and election of candidates in cities acting under a special charter in 1973 and having a population of fifty thousand or more, except where such a city by election chooses to conduct city elections under chapter 44, 45, or 376.
    Sec. 34.  CODE EDITOR DIRECTIVE.
   1.  The Code editor is directed to make the following transfers:
   a.  Section 420.126 to section 376.12.
   b.  Section 420.127 to section 376.13.
   c.  Section 420.128 to section 376.14.
   d.  Section 420.129 to section 376.15.
   e.  Section 420.130 to section 376.16.
   f.  Section 420.131 to section 376.17.
   g.  Section 420.132 to section 376.18.
   h.  Section 420.133 to section 376.19.
   i.  Section 420.134 to section 376.20.
   j.  Section 420.135 to section 376.21.
   k.  Section 420.136 to section 376.22.
   l.  Section 420.137 to section 376.23.
   2.  The Code editor shall correct internal references in the Code and in any enacted legislation as necessary due to the enactment of this section.
    Sec. 35.  REPEAL.  Sections 376.4A, 376.6, and 376.9, Code 2025, are repealed.
    Sec. 36.  APPLICABILITY.  This Act applies to elections held on or after January 1, 2027.
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 nominations of candidates for elections to city, school district, and merged area offices. The bill requires candidates for such elections to be nominated by primary elections held pursuant to Code chapter 43 (partisan nominations —— primary election). Currently such elections are nonpartisan except for special charter cities under Code chapter 420. The bill repeals other methods for the nomination of candidates, including nominations by petition and runoff elections. The bill allows the board of supervisors of a county to decide whether to conduct an election using an optical scan voting system or by counting ballots by hand. The bill applies to elections held on or after January 1, 2027.