SF 415 (LSB 2066SV (3) 86)

SENATE FILE 415

BY  COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT

(SUCCESSOR TO SSB 1215)

(As Amended and Passed by the Senate 2015-03-24)

A BILL FOR

An Act related to elections administration and election officials.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 43.45, Code 2015, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  3.  Notwithstanding any requirement to the contrary in subsection 1 and subsection 2, paragraph “c”, the commissioner of a county using digital ballot counting technology may direct the precinct election officials to tally and record write-in votes at the precincts after the closing of the polls or may direct the precinct election officials to sort the ballots by write-in votes for delivery to the special precinct board to tally and record the write-in votes on any day following election day and prior to the canvass by the board of supervisors under section 43.49. For the purposes of this subsection “digital ballot counting technology” is technology in which digital images of write-in votes are printed by the precinct election officials at the polling place after the close of voting.
    Sec. 2.  Section 49.9, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   49.9  Proper place of voting.

   Except as provided in section 49.11, subsection 3, paragraph “b”, section 49.11A, or as otherwise provided by law, a person shall not vote in any precinct but that of the person’s residence.
    Sec. 3.  NEW SECTION.  49.11A  Combined polling places.
   1.  For any election, the commissioner may designate a combined polling place to serve more than one precinct upon determining that designating the combined polling place is cost-efficient, administratively feasible, and does not impose an undue burden on persons in the precincts served by the combined polling place. The commissioner may assign precincts to a combined polling place and a person who is an eligible elector of a precinct assigned to a combined polling place who wishes to vote in person on election day shall vote at the combined polling place. The commissioner shall post a notice on the day of the election at the entrance to each combined polling place indicating that it is a combined polling place and specifying the precincts that are assigned to the combined polling place.
   2.  a.  If the commissioner assigns precincts to a combined polling place for a primary or general election, the commissioner shall ensure that the voting system utilized in the combined polling place reports election results by individual precinct.
   b.  For a primary or general election, the total number of voters in all precincts assigned to a combined polling place shall not exceed three thousand five hundred voters, as determined by the combined number of votes cast from each of the precincts at the last preceding general election that was a presidential election.
   3.  For a primary or general election, the commissioner shall publish notice of the commissioner’s intent to designate a combined polling place no less than seventy days before the election. For any other election, the commissioner shall publish notice of the commissioner’s intent to designate a combined polling place no less than thirty days before the election.
   4.  The commissioner shall not assign precincts to a combined polling place for an election if there is filed with the commissioner at least sixty days before a primary or general election, or at least twenty days before any other election, a petition signed by fifty or more eligible electors of a precinct to be assigned to a combined polling place requesting that the precinct not be assigned to a combined polling place. There shall be attached to the petition the affidavit of an eligible elector of the precinct that the signatures on the petition are genuine and that all of the signers are to the best of the affiant’s knowledge and belief eligible electors of the precinct.
    Sec. 4.  Section 50.24, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   2.  Upon convening, the board shall open and canvass the tally lists and shall prepare abstracts stating the number of votes cast in the county, or in that portion of the county in which the election was held, for each office and on each question on the ballot for the election. The board shall contact the chairperson of the special precinct board before adjourning and include in the canvass any write-in votes tallied and recorded by the special precinct board or any absentee ballots which were received after the polls closed in accordance with section 53.17 and which were canvassed by the special precinct board after election day. The abstract shall further indicate the name of each person who received votes for each office on the ballot, and 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 votes cast for an office shall be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”.
    Sec. 5.  Section 53.20, subsection 1, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  There is established in each county a special precinct to be known as the absentee ballot and special voters precinct. Its jurisdiction shall be conterminous with the borders of the county, for the purposes specified by sections 53.22 and 53.23, and the requirement that precincts not cross the boundaries of legislative districts shall not be applicable to it. The commissioner shall draw up an election board panel for the special precinct in the manner prescribed by section 49.15, having due regard for the nature and extent of the duties required of members of the election board and the election officers to be appointed from the panel, including, if directed by the commissioner, the tallying and recording of write-in votes.
    Sec. 6.  Section 331.904, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2015, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The annual base salary of the first and second deputy officer of the office of auditor, treasurer, and recorder, the deputy in charge of election administration, the deputy in charge of the motor vehicle registration and title division, and the deputy in charge of driver’s license issuance shall each be an amount not to exceed eighty-five percent of the annual salary of the deputy’s principal officer. In offices where more than two deputies are required, the annual base salary of each additional deputy shall be an amount not to exceed eighty percent of the principal officer’s salary. The amount of the annual base salary of each deputy shall be certified by the principal officer to the board and, if a deputy’s annual base salary does not exceed the limitations specified in this subsection, the board shall certify the annual base salary to the auditor. The board shall not certify a deputy’s annual base salary which exceeds the limitations of this subsection.