SSB 1130 (LSB 1413XD (4) 91)

SENATE/HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED SECRETARY OF STATE BILL)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the administration of elections.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 9E.6, subsection 3, paragraph b, subparagraph (1), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   (1)  The state commissioner of elections shall, upon the written request of a party to the contest, certify the eligibility of a program participant to vote or the validity of a program participant’s absentee ballot. A written request submitted under this paragraph “b” must contain the voter voter’s four-digit personal identification number affixed to the program participant’s absentee ballot.
    Sec. 2.  Section 39.2, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  All special elections which are authorized or required by law, unless the applicable law otherwise requires, shall be held on Tuesday. A special election shall not be held on the first, second, third, and fourth Tuesdays preceding and following the primary and the general elections or on the first, second, and third Tuesdays preceding and following a city or school election.
    Sec. 3.  Section 43.49, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   On the Monday or Tuesday following the primary election, the board of supervisors shall meet, open, and canvass the returns from each voting precinct in the county, and make abstracts thereof, stating the following:
    Sec. 4.  Section 46.24, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  A judge of the supreme court, court of appeals, or district court including a district associate judge, full-time associate juvenile judge, or full-time associate probate judge, or a clerk of the district court must receive more affirmative than negative votes to be retained in office. When the poll is closed, the election judges shall publicly canvass the vote forthwith. The board of supervisors shall canvass the returns on the Monday or Tuesday after the election, and shall promptly certify the number of affirmative and negative votes on each judge or clerk to the state commissioner of elections.
    Sec. 5.  Section 48A.26A, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  If the acknowledgment is returned as undeliverable by the postal service, the commissioner shall attempt to contact the voter by forwardable mail. If a response is not received from the voter within fourteen days after the notice is mailed, the commissioner shall change the status of the registration to inactive status and shall immediately notify the state registrar of voters, the county sheriff, and the county attorney.
    Sec. 6.  Section 48A.37, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Voter registration records, including voter registration forms, shall be maintained in an electronic medium on the statewide voter registration system. A history of local election participation shall be maintained as part of the electronic record for at least two general, primary, school, and city elections. Absentee voting shall be recorded for the previous two general and primary elections. After each election, the county commissioner shall update telephone numbers provided by registered voters pursuant to section 49.77.
    Sec. 7.  Section 50.9, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   50.9  Return of ballots not voted.
   Ballots not voted, or spoiled by voters while attempting to vote, shall be returned by the precinct election officials to the commissioner, and a receipt taken for the ballots. The spoiled ballots shall be preserved for twenty-two months following elections for federal offices and for six months following elections for all other offices. The commissioner shall record the number of ballots sent to the polling places but not voted. The ballots not voted shall be destroyed after the end of the period for contesting the election. However, if a contest is requested, the ballots not voted shall be preserved until the election contest is concluded.
    Sec. 8.  Section 50.11, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.
    Sec. 9.  Section 50.12, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   50.12  Return and preservation of ballots.
   Immediately after making the proclamation, and before separating, the board members of each precinct in which votes have been received by paper ballot shall enclose in an envelope or other container all ballots which have been counted by them, except those endorsed “Rejected as double”, “Defective”, or “Objected to”, and securely seal the envelope. The signatures of all board members of the precinct shall be placed across the seal or the opening of the container so that it cannot be opened without breaking the seal. The precinct election officials shall return all the ballots to the commissioner, who shall carefully preserve them for six twenty-two months. Ballots from elections for federal offices shall be preserved for twenty-two months. The sealed packages containing voted ballots shall be opened only for an official recount authorized by section 50.48, 50.49, or 50.50, for an election contest held pursuant to chapters 57 through 62, to conduct an audit pursuant to section 50.51, or to destroy the ballots pursuant to section 50.19.
    Sec. 10.  Section 50.19, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The commissioner may destroy precinct election registers, the declarations of eligibility signed by voters, and other material pertaining to any election in which federal offices are not on the ballot, except the tally lists and abstracts of votes which have not been electronically recorded, six twenty-two months after the election if a contest is not pending. If a contest is pending, all election materials shall be preserved until final determination of the contest or until twenty-two months after the election, whichever is later. Before destroying the election registers and declarations of eligibility, the commissioner shall prepare records as necessary to permit compliance with chapter 48A, subchapter V.  Nomination papers for primary election candidates for state and county offices shall be destroyed ten days before the general election, if a contest is not pending.
    Sec. 11.  Section 50.21, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  The commissioner shall reconvene the election board of the special precinct established by section 53.20 not earlier than noon on the second day following each election which is required by law to be canvassed on the Monday or Tuesday following the election. If the second day following such an election is a legal holiday the special precinct election board may be convened at noon on the day following the election, and if the canvass of the election is scheduled at any time earlier than the Monday Tuesday following the election, the special precinct election board shall be reconvened at noon on the day following the election.
    Sec. 12.  Section 50.24, subsections 1 and 4, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  The county board of supervisors shall meet to canvass the vote on the first Monday or Tuesday after the day of each election to which this chapter is applicable, unless the law authorizing the election specifies another date for the canvass. If that Monday or Tuesday is a public holiday, section 4.1, subsection 34, controls.
   4.  For a regular or special city election or a city runoff election, if the city is located in more than one county, the controlling commissioner for that city under section 47.2 shall conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of the election. However, if a recount is requested pursuant to section 50.48, the controlling commissioner shall conduct the second canvass within two business days after the conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner conducting a canvass for the city pursuant to subsection 1 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and public measures of that city to the controlling commissioner for that city, along with individual tallies for each write-in candidate. At the second canvass, the county board of supervisors of the county of the controlling commissioner shall canvass the abstracts received pursuant to this subsection and shall prepare a combined city abstract stating the number of votes cast in the city for each office and on each question on the ballot for the city election. The combined city abstract shall further indicate the name of each person who received votes for each office on the ballot, the number of votes each person named received for that office, and the number of votes for and against each question submitted to the voters at the election. The votes of all write-in candidates who each received less than five percent of the total votes cast in the city for an office shall be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”.
    Sec. 13.  Section 50.24, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  For a regular or special school election, if the school district is located in more than one county, the controlling commissioner for that school district under section 47.2 shall conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of election. However, if a recount is requested pursuant to section 50.48, the controlling commissioner shall conduct the second canvass within two business days after the conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner conducting a canvass for the school district pursuant to subsection 1 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and public measures of that school district to the controlling commissioner for that school district, along with individual tallies for each write-in candidate. At the second canvass the county board of supervisors of the controlling county shall canvass the abstracts received pursuant to this subsection and shall prepare a combined school district abstract stating the number of votes cast in the school district for each office and on each question on the ballot for the school election. The combined school district abstract shall further indicate the name of each person who received votes for each office on the ballot, the number of votes each person named received for that office, and the number of votes for and against each question submitted to the voters at the election. The votes of all write-in candidates who each received less than five percent of the total votes cast in the school district for an office shall be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”.
    Sec. 14.  Section 53.2, subsection 4, paragraph c, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   c.  For purposes of this subsection, “voter verification number” means the registered voter’s driver’s license number or nonoperator’s identification card number assigned to the voter by the department of transportation or the registered voter’s four-digit personal identification number assigned to the voter by the state commissioner pursuant to section 47.7 48A.10A, subsection 2 1.
    Sec. 15.  Section 53.10, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  For purposes of this subsection, “voter verification number” means the registered voter’s driver’s license number or nonoperator’s identification card number assigned to the voter by the department of transportation or the registered voter’s four-digit personal identification number assigned to the voter by the state commissioner pursuant to section 47.7 48A.10A, subsection 2 1.
    Sec. 16.  Section 53.23, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The commissioner shall set the a convening time for the board of no later than 9:00 a.m. on election day, allowing a reasonable amount of time to complete counting all absentee ballots by 10:00 p.m. on election day.
    Sec. 17.  Section 54.5, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   3.  Each elector nominee and alternate elector nominee of a political party or group of petitioners shall execute the following pledge on a form prescribed by the state commissioner, which shall accompany the submission of the corresponding names to the state commissioner:
If selected for the position of elector, I agree to serve and to mark my ballots for president and vice president for the nominees for those offices of the party (or group of petitioners) that nominated me.
    Sec. 18.  Section 260C.15, subsection 5, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   5.  The votes cast in the election shall be canvassed and abstracts of the votes cast shall be certified as required by section 277.20. In each county whose commissioner of elections is the controlling commissioner for a merged area under section 47.2, the county board of supervisors shall convene on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of the election to canvass the abstracts of votes cast from each county in the merged area, and declare the results of the voting. The commissioner shall at once issue certificates of election to each person declared elected, and shall certify to the merged area board in substantially the manner prescribed by section 50.27 the result of the voting on any public question submitted to the voters of the merged area. Members elected to the board of directors of a merged area shall qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed in section 277.28.
    Sec. 19.  Section 384.19, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Within a period of ten days after the final date that a budget or amended budget may be certified to the county auditor, persons affected by the budget may file a written protest with the county auditor specifying their objections to the budget or any part of it. A protest must be signed by registered voters equal in number to one-fourth of one percent of the votes cast for governor in the last preceding general election in the city, but the number shall not be less than ten persons and the number need not be more than one hundred persons population of the city according to the most recent federal decennial census or special census, whichever is later.
    Sec. 20.  REPEAL.  Section 52.41, Code 2025, is repealed.
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 the administration of elections. The bill requires absentee ballot materials to include the voter’s four-digit personal identification number instead of the voter’s voter identification number. The bill prohibits special elections from being held on the first, second, or third Tuesdays preceding and following city or school elections. The bill requires a county commissioner of elections to inform the county sheriff if an acknowledgment of election day and in-person absentee registration form sent by the commissioner does not receive a response from the voter. The bill also requires voter registration records, including voter registration forms, to be maintained on the statewide voter registration system.
   The bill strikes a provision allowing election officials to electronically transmit results from voting equipment to the county commissioner of elections’ office after producing a written report of the election results, including provisions relating to the approval of associated devices and the adoption of administrative rules for associated procedures.
   The bill changes the length of time that a county commissioner of elections must maintain election records for elections in which federal offices are not on the ballot from 6 months to 22 months or until the completion of an election contest, whichever is later. Material pertaining to elections for federal offices is maintained for 22 months under current law. The bill strikes a requirement that nomination papers for primary election candidates for state and county offices be destroyed 10 days before the general election if a contest is not pending.
   The bill removes the first and second Monday following an election as a possible day for conducting a first or second canvass of an election, respectively.
   The bill requires the special precinct election board to convene no later than 9:00 a.m. on election day for the counting of absentee ballots.
   The bill requires the state commissioner of elections to prescribe the form of the pledge signed by presidential elector nominees and alternate elector nominees.
   The bill changes the signature requirement for a written protest of a city budget from a number of registered voters equal to one-fourth of 1 percent of the votes cast for governor in the last preceding general election in the city to a number of registered voters equal to one-fourth of 1 percent of the population of the city according to the most recent federal decennial census or special census, whichever is later. The bill also strikes an alternative minimum number of signatures and an alternative maximum number of signatures.