HF 2319 (LSB 5255HV (3) 84)

HOUSE FILE 2319

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO HSB 587)

(As Amended and Passed by the House 2012-03-07)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to elections and voter registration, including technical administration of the law by making modifications to certain filing deadlines, preservation of certain records, elections to fill certain vacancies in office, absentee voting, voting systems, and ballot summaries.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 39.3, subsection 7, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   7.  “General election” means the biennial election for national or state officers, members of Congress and of the general assembly, county and township officers, and for the choice of other officers or the decision of questions as provided by law
 
and shall include a regular city election described in section 376.1 to fill a vacancy in an elective city office pursuant to section 372.13, subsection 2.
    Sec. 2.  Section 43.16, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   43.16  Return of papers, additions not allowed.

   1.  After a nomination paper has been filed, it shall not be returned to the person who has filed the paper, nor shall any signature or other information be added to the nomination paper.
   2.
  a.  A person who has filed nomination petitions with the state commissioner may withdraw as a candidate not later than
 
5:00 p.m. on the seventy-sixth day before the primary election by notifying the state commissioner in writing.
   b.  A person who has filed nomination papers with the commissioner may withdraw as a candidate not later than
 
5:00 p.m. on the sixty-seventh day before the primary election by notifying the commissioner in writing.
   3.  The name of a candidate who has withdrawn or died at a time in accordance with this section shall be omitted from the certificate furnished by the state commissioner under section 43.22 and omitted from the primary election ballot.
    Sec. 3.  Section 43.23, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   43.23  Death or withdrawal of primary candidate.
   1.  If a person who has filed nomination papers with the state commissioner as a candidate in a primary election dies or withdraws up to
 
before 5:00 p.m. on the seventy-sixth day before the primary election, the appropriate convention or central committee of that person’s political party may designate one additional primary election candidate for the nomination that person was seeking, if the designation is submitted to the state commissioner in writing by 5:00 p.m. on the seventy-first day before the date of the primary election. The name of any candidate so submitted shall be included in the appropriate certificate or certificates furnished by the state commissioner under section 43.22.
   2.  If a person who has filed nomination papers with the commissioner as a candidate in a primary election dies or withdraws up to
 
before 5:00 p.m. on the sixty-seventh day before the primary election, the appropriate convention or central committee of that person’s political party may designate one additional primary election candidate for the nomination that person was seeking, if the designation is submitted to the commissioner in writing by 5:00 p.m. on the sixty-third day before the primary election. The name of any candidate so submitted shall be placed on the appropriate ballot or ballots by the commissioner.
    Sec. 4.  Section 43.24, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (03)  Objections to nominations to fill vacancies in the office of representative in Congress at a special election held under section 69.14 shall be filed with the state commissioner not less than sixty days prior to the date set for the special election.
    Sec. 5.  Section 43.24, subsection 1, paragraph b, subparagraph (3), Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   (3)  Objections to nominations to fill vacancies
 
in the general assembly at a special election held under section 69.14, under which the forty-day notice of election provision applies, shall be filed with the state commissioner not less than fifteen days prior to the date set for the special election. If the forty-day notice provision does not apply, objections to nominations to fill vacancies
 
in the general assembly at a special election held under section 69.14 may be filed any time prior to the date set for the special election.
    Sec. 6.  Section 43.24, subsection 1, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new paragraph:
   NEW PARAGRAPH.  c.  Objections filed pursuant to this section shall be filed no later than 5:00 p.m. on the final date for filing.
    Sec. 7.  Section 43.24, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  If an objection is filed to a nomination to fill a vacancy
 
in the general assembly at a special election held under section 69.14, under which the forty-day notice of election provision of section 69.14 does not apply, notice of the objection shall be made to the candidate by the state commissioner as soon as practicable. Under this paragraph, failure to notify a candidate of an objection to the candidate’s nomination prior to the date set for the special election does not invalidate the hearing conducted under subsection 3. The hearing to an objection shall proceed as quickly as possible to expedite the special election.
    Sec. 8.  Section 43.72, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   43.72  State returns filed and preserved.
   When the canvass is concluded, the board shall deliver the original abstract returns to the state commissioner, who shall file the returns in the state commissioner’s office and preserve the abstracts of the canvass of the state board and certificates attached thereto. The
 
state commissioner may preserve the abstracts and certificates attached thereto in an electronic format.
    Sec. 9.  Section 43.88, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   43.88  Certification of nominations.
   1.  Nominations made by state, district, and county conventions, shall, under the name, place of residence, and post office address of the nominee, and the office to which nominated, and the name of the political party making the nomination, be forthwith certified to the proper officer by the chairperson and secretary of the convention, or by the committee, as the case may be, and if such certificate is received in time, the names of such nominees shall be printed on the official ballot the same as if the nomination had been made in the primary election.
   2.  Nominations made to fill vacancies in the office of representative in Congress shall be certified to the state commissioner not less than sixty-two days prior to the date set for the special election.
 
Nominations made to fill vacancies
 
in other offices to which this chapter applies at a special election shall be certified to the proper official not less than twenty-five days prior to the date set for the special election. In the event the special election is to fill a vacancy in the general assembly while it is in session or within forty-five days of the convening of any session, the nomination shall be certified not less than fourteen days before the date of the special election.
   3.  Nominations certified to the proper official under this section shall be accompanied by an affidavit executed by the nominee in substantially the form required by section 43.67.
    Sec. 10.  Section 44.4, subsection 1, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  Nominations made pursuant to this chapter and chapter 45 which are required to be filed in the office of the state commissioner shall be filed in that office not more than ninety-nine days nor later than 5:00 p.m. on the eighty-first day before the date of the general election to be held in November. Nominations made for a special election called pursuant to section 69.14
 
to fill vacancies in the general assembly shall be filed by 5:00 p.m. not less than twenty-five days before the date of an election called upon at least forty days’ notice and not less than fourteen days before the date of an election called upon at least eighteen days’ notice.

Nominations made to fill vacancies in the office of representative in Congress at a special election shall be certified to the state commissioner not less than sixty-two days prior to the date set for the special election. Nominations made for a special election called pursuant to section 69.14A shall be filed by 5:00 p.m. not less than twenty-five days before the date of the election. Nominations made pursuant to this chapter and chapter 45 which are required to be filed in the office of the commissioner shall be filed in that office not more than ninety-two days nor later than 5:00 p.m. on the sixty-ninth day before the date of the general election. Nominations made pursuant to this chapter or chapter 45 for city office shall be filed not more than seventy-two days nor later than 5:00 p.m. on the forty-seventh day before the city election with the city clerk, who shall process them as provided by law.
    Sec. 11.  Section 44.4, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended by adding the following new subparagraphs:
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (03)  Objections to nominations to fill a vacancy in the office of representative in Congress at a special election held under section 69.14 shall be filed with the state commissioner not less than sixty days prior to the date set for the special election.
   NEW SUBPARAGRAPH.  (003)  Objections to nominations to fill a vacancy in the general assembly at a special election held under section 69.14, under which the forty-day notice of election provision applies, shall be filed with the state commissioner not less than fifteen days prior to the date set for the special election. If the forty-day notice provision does not apply, objections to nominations to fill vacancies at a special election held under section 69.14 may be filed no later than the day before the special election.
    Sec. 12.  Section 48A.30, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The registered voter dies. For the purposes of this subsection, the commissioner may accept as evidence of death a notice from the state registrar of vital statistics forwarded by the state registrar of voters, a written statement from a member of the registered voter’s household, an obituary in a newspaper,
 
an obituary on a funeral home internet site, a written statement from an election official, or a notice from the county recorder of the county where the registered voter died.
    Sec. 13.  Section 48A.32, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   48A.32  Destruction or removal of canceled voter registration records.
   Twenty-two months after the next general election following the cancellation of a person’s voter registration,
 
or receipt of an incomplete voter registration application, the commissioner may destroy all records of that person’s registration, including electronic records. At the discretion of the commissioner, canceled records may be donated to a historical society if all confidential information has been removed from the records.
    Sec. 14.  Section 49.45, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   49.45  General form of ballot.
   Ballots referred to in section 49.43 shall be substantially in
 
one of the following form
 
forms:
  Shall the following amendment to the Constitution (or public measure) be adopted?

  ☐  Yes

  ☐  No
   (Here insert the summary, if it is for a constitutional amendment or statewide public measure, and in full the proposed constitutional amendment or public measure. The number assigned by the state commissioner or the letter assigned by the county commissioner shall be included on the ballot centered above the question, “Shall the following amendment to the Constitution [or public measure] be adopted?”.)
  Shall the following amendment to the Constitution (or public measure) be adopted?
   (Here insert the summary, if it is for a constitutional amendment or statewide public measure, and in full the proposed constitutional amendment or public measure. The number assigned by the state commissioner or the letter assigned by the county commissioner shall be included on the ballot centered above the question, “Shall the following amendment to the Constitution [or public measure] be adopted?”.)
  ☐  Yes

  ☐  No
    Sec. 15.  Section 50.15A, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  After the polls close on election day
 
for a primary election, general election, or special election under section 69.14, the commissioner of elections shall periodically provide election results to the state commissioner of elections as the precincts in the county report election results to the commissioner pursuant to section 50.11.

If the commissioner has access to the software program necessary to produce the election results in an electronic format, the commissioner shall provide the election results required by this section in an electronic format. If the commissioner determines that all precincts will not report election results before the office is closed, the commissioner shall report the most complete results available prior to leaving the office at the time the office is closed as provided in section 50.11. The commissioner shall specify the number of precincts included in the report to the state commissioner of elections.
    Sec. 16.  Section 50.48, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   b.  Immediately upon receipt of a request for a recount, the commissioner shall send a copy of the request to the apparent winner by certified mail. The commissioner shall also attempt to contact the apparent winner by telephone. If the apparent winner cannot be reached within four days, the chairperson of the political party or organization which nominated the apparent winner shall be contacted
 
or, in the case of an election for a nonpartisan office, the entity or officer responsible for making an appointment to fill a vacancy in the office shall be contacted and shall act on behalf of the apparent winner, if necessary. For
 
On behalf of candidates for
 
partisan state or federal offices, the chairperson of the state party shall be contacted. For
 
On behalf of candidates for
 
partisan county offices, the county chairperson of the party shall be contacted.
    Sec. 17.  Section 52.5, subsection 2, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The state commissioner shall formulate, with the advice and assistance of the examiners, and adopt rules governing the testing and examination of any optical scan voting system by the board of examiners. The rules shall prescribe the method to be used in determining whether the system is suitable for use within the state and performance standards for voting equipment in use within the state. The rules shall provide that all optical scan voting systems approved for use by the examiners after April 9, 2003, shall meet voting systems performance and test standards, as adopted by the federal election commission on April 30, 2002, and
 
pursuant to the provisions of or as deemed adopted by Pub. L. No. 107-252, § 222. The rules shall include standards for determining when recertification is necessary following modifications to the equipment or to the programs used in tabulating votes, and a procedure for rescinding certification if a system is found not to comply with performance standards adopted by the state commissioner.
    Sec. 18.  Section 53.18, subsection 2, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  If the commissioner receives the return envelope containing the completed absentee ballot by 5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election for general and primary elections and by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election for all other elections, the commissioner shall open the envelope to review the affidavit for completeness. If the affidavit is incomplete, the commissioner shall, within twenty-four hours of the time the envelope was received, notify the voter of that fact and that the voter may complete the affidavit in person at the office of the commissioner by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the election,
 
or in the case of an election at which the polls open at noon on election day, by 10:00 a.m. on the date of the election, vote a replacement ballot in the manner and within the time period provided in subsection 3, or appear at the voter’s precinct polling place on election day and cast a ballot in accordance with section 53.19, subsection 3.
    Sec. 19.  Section 53.30, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   53.30  Ballots, ballot envelopes, and other information preserved.
   At the conclusion of each meeting of the absentee and special voter’s precinct board, the board shall securely seal all ballots counted by them in the manner prescribed in section 50.12. The ballot envelopes, including the envelope having the registered voter’s affidavit on it, the return envelope, and secrecy envelope bearing the signatures of precinct election officials, as required by section 53.23, shall be preserved. All applications for absentee ballots, ballots rejected without being opened, absentee ballot logs, and any other documents pertaining to the absentee ballot process shall be preserved until such time as the documents may be destroyed pursuant to section 50.19.
    Sec. 20.  Section 53.39, subsection 2, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  All official ballots to be voted by qualified absent voters in the armed forces of the United States at the primary election, and the general election, and special elections for representative in Congress shall be printed prior to forty-five days before the respective elections and shall be available for transmittal to such qualified voters in the armed forces of the United States at least forty-five days before the respective elections. The provisions of this chapter apply to absent voting by qualified voters in the armed forces of the United States except as modified by the provisions of this division.
    Sec. 21.  Section 53.40, subsection 2, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  The commissioner shall immediately on
 
after the ballots are available and no later than the forty-fifth day prior to the particular
 
primary election, general election, or special election
 
for representative in Congress transmit ballots to the voter by mail or otherwise, postage prepaid, as directed by the state commissioner, requests for which are in the commissioner’s hands at that time, and thereafter so transmit ballots immediately upon receipt of requests. A request for ballot for the primary election which does not state the party affiliation of the voter making the request is void and of no effect. A request which does not show that the person for whom a ballot is requested will be a qualified voter in the precinct in which the ballot is to be cast on the day of the election for which the ballot is requested, shall not be honored. However, a request which states the age and the city, including street address, and county where the voter resides is sufficient to show that the person is a qualified voter. A request by the voter containing substantially the information required is sufficient.
    Sec. 22.  Section 53.47, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   53.47  Materials furnished by department of administrative services
 
state commissioner.
   1.  In order to establish uniformity in size, weight and other characteristics of the ballot and facilitate its distribution and return, the department of administrative services shall upon direction of the state commissioner
 
shall purchase any material needed for any special ballots, envelopes, and other printed matter, and sell any such materials to the several counties of the state at cost plus handling and transportation costs.
   2.  There is hereby appropriated to the department of administrative services
 
state commissioner from the general fund of the state such sums as may be necessary to purchase any materials provided for herein. The proceeds from sale of such materials to counties shall be turned into the general fund of the state upon receipt of same by the department of administrative services
 
state commissioner.
    Sec. 23.  Section 69.14, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   69.14  Special election to fill vacancies.
   A special election to fill a vacancy shall be held for a representative in Congress, or senator or representative in the general assembly, when the body in which such vacancy exists is in session, or will convene prior to the next general election, and the. The governor shall order, not later than five days from the date the vacancy exists, a special election, giving not less than
 
seventy-six days’ notice of such election to fill a vacancy in the office of representative in Congress or forty days’ notice of such election
 
to fill a vacancy in the office of senator or representative in the general assembly. In the event the special election is to fill a vacancy in the general assembly while it is in session or within forty-five days of the convening of any session, the time limit provided in this section shall not apply and the governor shall order such special election at the earliest practical time, giving at least eighteen days’ notice of the special election. Any special election called under this section must be held on a Tuesday and shall not be held on the same day as a school election within the district.
    Sec. 24.  Section 372.13, subsection 2, paragraph a, Code 2011, is amended to read as follows:
   a.
  (1)  By appointment by the remaining members of the council, except that if the remaining members do not constitute a quorum of the full membership, paragraph “b” shall be followed. The appointment shall be
 
made within forty days after the vacancy occurs and shall be for the period until the next pending election as defined in section 69.12, and shall be made within forty days after the vacancy occurs
 
regular city election described in section 376.1, unless there is an intervening special election in that city, in which event the election for the office shall be placed on the ballot at such special election.
   (2)  If the council chooses to proceed under this paragraph, it shall publish notice in the manner prescribed by section 362.3, stating that the council intends to fill the vacancy by appointment but that the electors of the city or ward, as the case may be, have the right to file a petition requiring that the vacancy be filled by a special election. The council may publish notice in advance if an elected official submits a resignation to take effect at a future date. The council may make an appointment to fill the vacancy after the notice is published or after the vacancy occurs, whichever is later. However, if within fourteen days after publication of the notice or within fourteen days after the appointment is made, there is filed with the city clerk a petition which requests a special election to fill the vacancy, an appointment to fill the vacancy is temporary and the council shall call a special election to fill the vacancy permanently, under paragraph “b”. The number of signatures of eligible electors of a city for a valid petition shall be determined as follows:
   (1)(a)  For a city with a population of ten thousand or less, at least two hundred signatures or at least the number of signatures equal to fifteen percent of the voters who voted for candidates for the office at the preceding regular election at which the office was on the ballot, whichever number is fewer.
   (2)(b)  For a city with a population of more than ten thousand but not more than fifty thousand, at least one thousand signatures or at least the number of signatures equal to fifteen percent of the voters who voted for candidates for the office at the preceding regular election at which the office was on the ballot, whichever number is fewer.
   (3)(c)  For a city with a population of more than fifty thousand, at least two thousand signatures or at least the number of signatures equal to ten percent of the voters who voted for candidates for the office at the preceding regular election at which the office was on the ballot, whichever number is fewer.
   (4)(d)  The minimum number of signatures for a valid petition pursuant to subparagraphs (1)
 
subparagraph divisions (a) through (3)
 
(d) shall not be fewer than ten. In determining the minimum number of signatures required, if at the last preceding election more than one position was to be filled for the office in which the vacancy exists, the number of voters who voted for candidates for the office shall be determined by dividing the total number of votes cast for the office by the number of seats to be filled.
    Sec. 25.  EFFECTIVE UPON ENACTMENT.  The following provision or provisions of this Act, being deemed of immediate importance, take effect upon enactment:
   1.  The section of this Act amending section 43.24, subsection 1, paragraph “b”.
   2.  The section of this Act amending section 43.24, subsection 2, paragraph “b”.
   3.  The section of this Act amending section 43.88.
   4.  The sections of this Act amending section 44.4, subsections 1 and 2.
   5.  The section of this Act amending section 53.39, subsection 2.

   6.  The section of this Act amending section 53.40, subsection 2.
   7.  The section of this Act amending section 69.14.