S.F. _____ H.F. _____ DIVISION I 1 ELECTION MISCONDUCT —— INVESTIGATION 2 Section 1. Section 39A.1, Code 2026, is amended by adding 3 the following new subsection: 4 NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. For purposes of this chapter, “election 5 day” includes any day on which voting takes place in person, 6 including pursuant to section 53.10 or 53.11. 7 Sec. 2. NEW SECTION . 39A.8 Investigation of election 8 officials —— notification. 9 A law enforcement agency or other entity of the state 10 or a political subdivision of the state that conducts an 11 investigation of an election, the actions of election 12 officials, or election misconduct shall immediately notify the 13 state commissioner, except that the governor shall immediately 14 be notified of an investigation of the state commissioner. 15 DIVISION II 16 CANCELLATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION 17 Sec. 3. Section 48A.30, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended 18 by adding the following new paragraph: 19 NEW PARAGRAPH . i. The registration has been designated 20 as incomplete, pending, or unconfirmed pursuant to section 21 48A.37, subsection 2, for ninety days, and the commissioner has 22 been unable to contact the registrant, or the registrant has 23 failed to submit sufficient information to complete, verify, 24 or correct the defect in the registration following contact by 25 the commissioner. 26 DIVISION III 27 ELECTION RECOUNTS —— PUBLIC MEASURES 28 Sec. 4. Section 50.49, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2026, are 29 amended to read as follows: 30 1. A recount for any public measure shall be ordered by the 31 board of canvassers if a petition requesting a recount is filed 32 with the state commissioner for a public measure voted on by 33 the electors of the entire state, or the county commissioner 34 for all other public measures, not later than three days after 35 -1- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 1/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ the completion of the canvass of votes for the election at 1 which the question appeared on the ballot and the abstracts 2 prepared pursuant to section 50.24 indicate that the difference 3 between the affirmative and negative votes cast on the public 4 measure is less than fifteen hundredths of one percent for a 5 public measure voted on by the electors of the entire state, 6 or less than either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is 7 lesser, for all other public measures. For a public measure 8 that is not voted on by the electors of the entire state and 9 that requires the affirmative vote of at least sixty percent of 10 the votes cast on the public measure, the abstracts prepared 11 pursuant to section 50.24 must indicate that the difference 12 between passage and defeat of the public measure is less than 13 either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is lesser. The 14 petition shall be signed by the greater of not less than ten 15 eligible electors or a number of eligible electors equaling 16 one percent of the total number of votes cast upon the public 17 measure. Each petitioner must be a person who was entitled to 18 vote on the public measure in question or would have been so 19 entitled if registered to vote. 20 2. The recount shall be conducted by a board which shall 21 consist of : the commissioner and the commissioner’s staff, 22 which may include persons employed by the commissioner to tally 23 ballots during the election. 24 a. A designee named in the petition requesting the recount. 25 b. A designee named by the commissioner at or before the 26 time the board is required to convene. 27 c. A person chosen jointly by the members designated under 28 paragraphs “a” and “b” . 29 Sec. 5. Section 50.49, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 30 to read as follows: 31 3. The commissioner shall convene the persons designated 32 under subsection 2 , paragraphs “a” and “b” , not later than 9:00 33 a.m. on the seventh day following the canvass of the election 34 in question. If those two members cannot agree on the third 35 -2- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 2/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ member by 8:00 a.m. on the ninth day following the canvass, 1 they shall immediately notify the chief judge of the judicial 2 district in which the canvass is occurring, who shall appoint 3 the third member not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day 4 following the canvass. 5 DIVISION IV 6 ELECTION SECURITY 7 Sec. 6. Section 52.5, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 8 to read as follows: 9 2. The state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice 10 and assistance of the examiners, and adopt rules governing the 11 testing and examination of any optical scan voting system by 12 the board of examiners. The rules shall prescribe the method 13 to be used in determining whether the system is suitable for 14 use within the state and performance standards for voting 15 equipment in use within the state. The rules shall provide 16 that all optical scan voting systems approved for use by the 17 examiners after April 9, 2003, shall meet voting systems 18 performance and test standards, as adopted by the federal 19 United States election assistance commission on April 30, 20 2002 , and as deemed adopted by the federal Help America Vote 21 Act, Pub. L. No. 107-252, §222 116 Stat. 1666 . The rules 22 shall include standards for determining when recertification 23 is necessary following modifications to the equipment or to 24 the programs used in tabulating votes, and a procedure for 25 rescinding certification if a system is found not to comply 26 with performance standards adopted by the state commissioner. 27 Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 52.39 Election equipment —— physical 28 security. 29 Election equipment, including election equipment not 30 currently in use, shall be secured by a tamper-evident seal at 31 all times. 32 DIVISION V 33 SPECIAL PRECINCT ELECTION BOARD 34 Sec. 8. Section 53.23, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2026, 35 -3- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 3/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ is amended to read as follows: 1 a. The commissioner shall set a convening time for the 2 board of no later than 9:00 a.m. on election day for a general 3 election or a statewide special election , allowing a reasonable 4 amount of time to complete counting all absentee ballots by 5 10:00 p.m. on election day. 6 DIVISION VI 7 LOCAL ELECTION FILINGS 8 Sec. 9. Section 44.8, subsection 1, Code 2026, is amended 9 to read as follows: 10 1. Objections filed with the city clerk commissioner 11 pursuant to section 277.5 or 362.4 or with the commissioner 12 for an elective city office shall be considered by the mayor 13 and clerk and one member of the council chosen by the council 14 by ballot, and a majority decision shall be final as provided 15 in section 44.7, except as otherwise provided in this section . 16 However, if the objection is to the certificate of nomination 17 of either of those city officials, that official shall not pass 18 upon the objection, but the official’s place shall be filled by 19 a member of the council against whom no such objection exists, 20 chosen as above provided. 21 Sec. 10. Section 44.9, subsections 2, 3, and 5, Code 2026, 22 are amended to read as follows: 23 2. In the office of the appropriate commissioner, at least 24 seventy-four days before the date of the election, except as 25 otherwise provided in subsection 3, 5, or 6 . 26 3. In the office of the appropriate school board secretary 27 commissioner in case of a regularly scheduled school election , 28 at least forty-two days before the day of a regularly scheduled 29 school election. 30 5. In the office of the appropriate commissioner or 31 school board secretary in case of a special election to 32 fill vacancies, at least twenty-five days before the day of 33 election. 34 Sec. 11. Section 44.11, Code 2026, is amended to read as 35 -4- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 4/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ follows: 1 44.11 Vacancies filled. 2 If a candidate named under this chapter withdraws or dies 3 before the deadline established in section 44.9 , declines 4 a nomination, or if a certificate of nomination is held 5 insufficient or inoperative by the officer with whom it 6 is required to be filed, or in case any objection made to 7 a certificate of nomination, or to the eligibility of any 8 candidate named in the certificate, is sustained by the board 9 appointed to determine such questions, the vacancy or vacancies 10 may be filled by the convention, or caucus, or in such manner 11 as such convention or caucus has previously provided. The 12 vacancy or vacancies shall be filled not less than seventy-six 13 days before the election in the case of nominations required to 14 be filed with the state commissioner, not less than sixty-nine 15 days before the election in the case of nominations required to 16 be filed with the commissioner, not less than forty-two days 17 before the election in the case of nominations required to be 18 filed in the office of the school board secretary with the 19 commissioner for school elections , and not less than forty-two 20 days before the election in the case of nominations required to 21 be filed with the commissioner for city elections. 22 Sec. 12. Section 275.25, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 23 2026, is amended to read as follows: 24 b. The election shall be conducted as provided in section 25 277.3 , and nomination petitions shall be filed pursuant to 26 section 277.4 , except as otherwise provided in this subsection . 27 Nomination petitions shall be filed with the secretary of the 28 board of the existing school district in which the candidate 29 resides county commissioner of elections described in paragraph 30 “a” not less than twenty-eight days before the date set for the 31 special school election. The secretary of the board county 32 commissioner of elections , or the secretary’s commissioner’s 33 designee, shall be present in the secretary’s commissioner’s 34 office until 5:00 p.m. on the final day to file the nomination 35 -5- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 5/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ papers. The nomination papers shall be delivered to the 1 commissioner no later than 5:00 p.m. on the twenty-seventh day 2 before the election. 3 Sec. 13. Section 277.4, subsections 1, 3, and 4, Code 2026, 4 are amended to read as follows: 5 1. Nomination papers for all candidates for election 6 to office in each school district shall be filed with the 7 secretary of the school board county commissioner of elections 8 not more than seventy-one days nor less than forty-seven days 9 before the election. Nomination petitions shall be filed 10 not later than 5:00 p.m. on the last day for filing. If the 11 school board secretary is not readily available during normal 12 office hours, the secretary may designate a full-time employee 13 of the school district who is ordinarily available to accept 14 nomination papers under this section . On the final date for 15 filing nomination papers , the office of the school secretary 16 county commissioner of elections shall remain open until 5:00 17 p.m. 18 3. The secretary of the school board county commissioner 19 of elections shall accept the petition for filing if on its 20 face it appears to have the requisite number of signatures 21 and if it is timely filed. The secretary of the school board 22 county commissioner of elections shall note upon each petition 23 and affidavit accepted for filing the date and time that the 24 petition was filed. The secretary of the school board shall 25 deliver all nomination petitions, together with the complete 26 text of any public measure being submitted by the board to the 27 electorate , to the county commissioner of elections on the day 28 following the last day on which nomination petitions can be 29 filed, and not later than 12:00 noon on that day. 30 4. Any person on whose behalf nomination petitions have been 31 filed under this section may withdraw as a candidate by filing 32 a signed statement to that effect with the secretary county 33 commissioner of elections consistent with section 44.9 . 34 Sec. 14. Section 277.5, Code 2026, is amended to read as 35 -6- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 6/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ follows: 1 277.5 Objections to nominations. 2 1. Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination 3 petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by 4 any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for 5 the office in question. The objection must be filed with the 6 secretary of the school board county commissioner of elections 7 at least forty-two days before the day of the school election. 8 When objections are filed , notice shall forthwith be given to 9 the candidate affected, addressed to the candidate’s place 10 of residence as given on the candidate’s affidavit, stating 11 that objections have been made to the legal sufficiency of 12 the petition or to the eligibility of the candidate, and also 13 stating the time and place the objections will be considered. 14 2. Objections shall be considered not later than two working 15 days following the receipt of the objections by the president 16 of the school board, the secretary of the school board, and 17 one additional member of the school board chosen by ballot. 18 If objections have been filed to the nominations of either of 19 those school officials, that official shall not pass on the 20 objection. The official’s place shall be filled by a member 21 of the school board against whom no objection exists. The 22 replacement shall be chosen by ballot as provided in section 23 44.7 . 24 Sec. 15. Section 279.6, subsection 1, paragraph b, 25 subparagraph (1), Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 26 (1) If within fourteen days after publication of a notice 27 required pursuant to paragraph “a” for a vacancy that occurs 28 more than one hundred eighty days before the next regular 29 school election, or after the filing period closes pursuant 30 to section 277.4, subsection 1 , for the next regular school 31 election, there is filed with the secretary of the school 32 board county commissioner of elections a petition requesting a 33 special election to fill the vacancy, an appointment to fill 34 the vacancy is temporary until a successor is elected and 35 -7- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 7/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ qualified, and the board shall call a special election pursuant 1 to section 279.7 , to fill the vacancy for the remaining balance 2 of the unexpired term. 3 Sec. 16. Section 279.6, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended 4 to read as follows: 5 2. A vacancy shall be filled at the next regular school 6 election if a member of a school board resigns from the 7 board not later than forty-five days before the election 8 and the notice of resignation specifies an effective date 9 at the beginning of the next term of office for elective 10 school officials. The president of the board shall declare 11 the office vacant as of the date of the next organizational 12 meeting. Nomination papers shall be received filed with the 13 county commissioner of elections for the unexpired term of 14 the resigning member. The person elected at the next regular 15 school election to fill the vacancy shall take office at the 16 same time and place as the other elected school board members. 17 Sec. 17. Section 362.4, subsection 3, Code 2026, is amended 18 to read as follows: 19 3. Petitions which have been accepted for filing are 20 valid unless written objections are filed with the city clerk 21 commissioner within five working days after the petition is 22 received. The objection process in section 44.8 shall be 23 followed. 24 Sec. 18. Section 376.4, subsections 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6, Code 25 2026, are amended to read as follows: 26 1. a. An eligible elector of a city may become a candidate 27 for an elective city office by filing with the county 28 commissioner of elections responsible under section 47.2 29 for conducting elections held for the city a valid petition 30 requesting that the elector’s name be placed on the ballot for 31 that office , or by filing a valid petition with the designated 32 city clerk . The petition must be filed not more than 33 seventy-one days and not less than forty-seven days before the 34 date of the election, and must be signed by eligible electors 35 -8- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 8/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ equal in number to at least two percent of those who voted to 1 fill the same office at the last regular city election, but not 2 less than ten persons. However, for those cities which may be 3 required to hold a primary election, the petition must be filed 4 not more than eighty-five days and not less than sixty-eight 5 days before the date of the regular city election. Nomination 6 petitions shall be filed not later than 5:00 p.m. on the last 7 day for filing. 8 b. The petitioners for an individual seeking election from 9 a ward must be residents of the ward at the time of signing the 10 petition. An individual is not eligible for election from a 11 ward unless the individual is a resident of the ward at the 12 time the individual files the petition and at the time of 13 election. 14 c. The county commissioner may designate the city clerk of 15 a city to receive nomination papers for elective city offices. 16 If so designated, the city clerk shall have all the duties of 17 the county commissioner provided in this section . 18 3. On the final date for filing nomination papers the office 19 of the county commissioner and the office of the city clerk 20 designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall remain open until 21 5:00 p.m. 22 4. The county commissioner or the city clerk designated 23 pursuant to subsection 1 shall review each petition and 24 affidavit of candidacy for completeness following the standards 25 in section 45.5 and shall accept the petition for filing 26 if on its face it appears to have the requisite number of 27 signatures and if it is timely filed. The county commissioner 28 or the designated city clerk shall note upon each petition and 29 affidavit accepted for filing the date and time that they were 30 filed. The county commissioner or the designated city clerk 31 shall return any rejected nomination papers to the person on 32 whose behalf the nomination papers were filed. 33 5. Nomination papers filed with the county commissioner or 34 the city clerk designated pursuant to subsection 1 shall be 35 -9- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 9/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ available for public inspection. 1 6. The city clerk shall deliver the text of any public 2 measure being submitted by the city council to the electorate 3 to the county commissioner of elections. If the county 4 commissioner has designated the city clerk to receive 5 nomination papers for elective city offices pursuant to 6 subsection 1 , the city clerk shall deliver the nomination 7 papers accepted for filing to the county commissioner. The 8 text of any public measure and nomination papers required to 9 be delivered under this subsection shall be delivered no later 10 than the day after the last day on which nomination petitions 11 can be filed, and not later than 12:00 noon on that day. 12 Sec. 19. Section 376.10, Code 2026, is amended to read as 13 follows: 14 376.10 Contest. 15 A nomination or election to a city office may be contested in 16 the manner provided in chapter 62 for contesting elections to 17 county offices, except that a statement of intent to contest 18 must be filed with the city clerk county commissioner of 19 elections within ten days after the nomination or election. 20 Sec. 20. Section 376.11, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2026, are 21 amended to read as follows: 22 1. Write-in votes are permitted to be cast in all elections 23 for city offices. A person who receives a sufficient number of 24 write-in votes to be elected to a city office shall be declared 25 the winner of the election. If the result is a tie vote, lots 26 shall be drawn pursuant to section 50.44 . If a person who was 27 elected by write-in votes chooses not to serve in that office, 28 the person shall submit a resignation in writing to the city 29 clerk county commissioner of elections not later than 5:00 p.m. 30 on the tenth day following the canvass of the election. If a 31 person who was elected by write-in votes resigns at a later 32 time, the office shall be considered vacant at the end of the 33 term and the council shall fill the vacancy pursuant to the 34 provisions of section 372.13, subsection 2 . 35 -10- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 10/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ 2. Except in cities where the council has chosen a runoff 1 election in lieu of a primary, following the resignation of 2 a person who was elected by write-in votes, the city clerk 3 shall notify the person who received the next highest number 4 of votes cast for the office that the person may assume the 5 office. If there is more than one person who received the 6 next highest number of votes cast for the office, lots shall 7 be drawn pursuant to section 50.44 to determine the person 8 who received the next highest number of votes. If the person 9 accepts the position, the person shall be considered the 10 duly elected officer unless, within ten days after the clerk 11 county commissioner of elections has given notice, a petition 12 requesting a special election is filed by eligible electors of 13 the city equal in number to twenty-five percent of the number 14 of persons who voted for the office at the election. If the 15 person declines, the person shall do so in writing to the city 16 clerk county commissioner of elections within ten days and the 17 office shall be considered vacant at the end of the term. The 18 vacancy shall be filled pursuant to the provisions of section 19 372.13, subsection 2 . If the council chooses to appoint, the 20 appointment may be made before the end of the current term. 21 EXPLANATION 22 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 23 the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly. 24 This bill relates to the conduct of elections. 25 DIVISION I —— ELECTION MISCONDUCT —— INVESTIGATION. The 26 bill defines “election day” for the purposes of election 27 misconduct to include any day on which voting takes place in 28 person, including absentee voting at the offices of a county 29 commissioner of elections or at a satellite absentee voting 30 station. The bill requires a law enforcement agency or 31 other entity of a state or political subdivision of the state 32 that is investigating an election, the actions of election 33 officials, or election misconduct to immediately notify the 34 state commissioner of elections, or the governor if the state 35 -11- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 11/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ commissioner of elections is under investigation. 1 DIVISION II —— CANCELLATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION. The 2 bill requires a voter registration that has been designated as 3 incomplete, pending, or unconfirmed for 90 days to be canceled 4 if the county commissioner of elections has been unable to 5 contact the registrant or the registrant has failed to submit 6 sufficient information to complete, verify, or correct the 7 defect in the registration. 8 DIVISION III —— ELECTION RECOUNTS —— PUBLIC MEASURES. The 9 bill changes the minimum threshold for conducting a recount 10 of a public measure that is not voted on by the electors of 11 the entire state and that requires an affirmative vote of at 12 least 60 percent of the votes cast on the measure to be a 13 difference between passage and defeat of at least 1 percent or 14 50 votes, whichever is lesser. The bill changes the makeup of 15 a recount board for a public measure to consist of the county 16 commissioner of elections and the commissioner’s staff, which 17 may include persons employed by the commissioner to tally 18 ballots, instead of a designee of the petitioner requesting the 19 recount, a designee selected by the commissioner, and a third 20 person chosen jointly by the other designees. 21 DIVISION IV —— ELECTION SECURITY. The bill updates 22 references to the United States election assistance commission 23 and the federal Help America Vote Act. The bill requires all 24 election equipment, including election equipment that is not 25 currently in use, to be secured with a tamper-evident seal at 26 all times. 27 DIVISION V —— SPECIAL PRECINCT ELECTION BOARD. The bill 28 requires a county commissioner of elections to set a convening 29 time for the election board of the absentee ballot and special 30 voters precinct of no later than 9:00 a.m. on election day 31 for general and statewide special elections. Under current 32 law, election boards of absentee ballot and special voters 33 precincts must be convened by 9:00 a.m. on election day for all 34 elections. 35 -12- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 12/ 13

S.F. _____ H.F. _____ DIVISION VI —— LOCAL ELECTION FILINGS. The bill requires 1 all filings for city and school elections to be made with the 2 county commissioner of elections and removes the authority of a 3 county commissioner of elections to designate a city clerk to 4 accept election filings. The bill also requires objections to 5 petitions in city elections to be heard by the county auditor, 6 county treasurer, and county attorney. 7 -13- LSB 5495XD (4) 91 ss/ns 13/ 13