House File 71 - IntroducedA Bill ForAn Act 1relating to an agreement among the states to elect the
2president by national popular vote.
3BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
1   Section 1.  Section 50.45, Code 2021, is amended to read as
2follows:
   350.45  Canvass public — result determined.
   41.  All canvasses of tally lists shall be public, and the
5persons having the greatest number of votes shall be declared
6elected, except that in any year in which the appointment of
7presidential electors is governed by the national popular vote
8compact set forth in section 54.10, the persons that shall be
9declared elected to the position of presidential elector shall
10be the persons specified in the national popular vote compact
.
   112.  When a public measure has been submitted to the electors,
12the proposition shall be declared to have been adopted if
13the vote cast in favor of the question is greater than fifty
14percent of the total vote cast in favor and against the
15question, unless laws pertaining specifically to the public
16measure election establish a higher percentage of a favorable
17vote. All ballots cast and not counted as a vote in favor or
18against the proposition shall not be used in computing the
19total vote cast in favor and against the proposition.
20   Sec. 2.  NEW SECTION.  54.10  Agreement among the states to
21elect the president by national popular vote.
   22The agreement among the states to elect the president by
23national popular vote may be cited as the “National Popular Vote
24Compact”
. The national popular vote compact is entered into
25and enacted into law with each other state that has enacted the
26compact in substantially the following form:
   271.  Article I — Membership.  Any state of the United States
28and the District of Columbia may become a member of this
29agreement by enacting this agreement.
   302.  Article II — Right of the people in member states to
31vote for president and vice president.
  Each member state shall
32conduct a statewide popular election for president and vice
33president of the United States.
   343.  Article III — Manner of appointing presidential electors
35in member states.
-1-
  
   1a.  Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting
2by the presidential electors, the chief election official of
3each member state shall determine the number of votes for each
4presidential slate in each state of the United States and in
5the District of Columbia in which votes have been cast in a
6statewide popular election and shall add such votes together to
7produce a “national popular vote total” for each presidential
8slate.
   9b.  The chief election official of each member state shall
10designate the presidential slate with the largest national
11popular vote total as the “national popular vote winner”.
   12c.  The presidential elector certifying official of each
13member state shall certify the appointment in that official’s
14own state of the elector slate nominated in that state in
15association with the national popular vote winner.
   16d.  At least six days before the day fixed by law for the
17meeting and voting by the presidential electors, each member
18state shall make a final determination of the number of popular
19votes cast in the state for each presidential slate and shall
20communicate an official statement of such determination within
21twenty-four hours to the chief election official of each other
22member state.
   23e.  The chief election official of each member state shall
24treat as conclusive an official statement containing the number
25of popular votes in a state for each presidential slate made by
26the day established by federal law for making a state’s final
27determination conclusive as to the counting of electoral votes
28by Congress.
   29f.  In event of a tie for the national popular vote winner,
30the presidential elector certifying official of each member
31state shall certify the appointment of the elector slate
32nominated in association with the presidential slate receiving
33the largest number of popular votes within that official’s own
34state.
   35g.  If, for any reason, the number of presidential electors
-2-1nominated in a member state in association with the national
2popular vote winner is less than or greater than that state’s
3number of electoral votes, the presidential candidate on
4the presidential slate that has been designated as the
5national popular vote winner shall have the power to nominate
6the presidential electors for that state and that state’s
7presidential elector certifying official shall certify the
8appointment of such nominees.
   9h.  The chief election official of each member state shall
10immediately release to the public all vote counts or statements
11of votes as they are determined or obtained.
   12i.  Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
13this article shall govern the appointment of presidential
14electors in Iowa in any year in which this agreement is, on
15July 20, in effect in states cumulatively possessing a majority
16of the electoral votes.
   174.  Article IV — Other provisions.
  
   18a.  This agreement shall take effect when states cumulatively
19possessing a majority of the electoral votes have enacted this
20agreement in substantially the same form and the enactments by
21such states have taken effect in each state.
   22b.  Any member state may withdraw from this agreement, except
23that a withdrawal occurring six months or less before the
24end of a president’s term shall not become effective until a
25president or vice president shall have been qualified to serve
26the next term.
   27c.  The chief executive of each member state shall promptly
28notify the chief executives of all other states of when
29this agreement has been enacted and has taken effect in that
30official’s state, when the state has withdrawn from this
31agreement, and when this agreement takes effect generally.
   32d.  This agreement shall terminate if the electoral college
33is abolished.
   34e.  If any provision of this agreement is held invalid, the
35remaining provisions shall not be affected.
-3-
   15.  Article V — Definitions.  For purposes of this
2agreement:
   3a.  “Chief election official” shall mean the state official
4or body that is authorized to certify the total number of
5popular votes for each presidential slate.
   6b.  “Chief executive” shall mean the governor of a state of
7the United States or the mayor of the District of Columbia.
   8c.  “Elector slate” shall mean a slate of candidates who
9have been nominated in a state for the position of presidential
10elector in association with a presidential slate.
   11d.  “Presidential elector” shall mean an elector for
12president and vice president of the United States.
   13e.  “Presidential elector certifying official” shall mean
14the state official or body that is authorized to certify the
15appointment of the state’s presidential electors.
   16f.  “Presidential slate” shall mean a slate of two persons,
17the first of whom has been nominated as a candidate for
18president of the United States and the second of whom has been
19nominated as a candidate for vice president of the United
20States, or any legal successors to such persons, regardless of
21whether both names appear on the ballot presented to the voter
22in a particular state.
   23g.  “State” shall mean a state of the United States and the
24District of Columbia.
   25h.  “Statewide popular election” shall mean a general
26election in which votes are cast for presidential slates by
27individual voters and counted on a statewide basis.
28EXPLANATION
29The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
30the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   31This bill creates a compact for the state of Iowa whereby
32the state agrees to certify its electors for president of the
33United States based on the national popular vote for president,
34rather than on the popular vote for president within the state.
35The agreement is cited in the bill as the “National Popular
-4-1Vote Compact”. To take effect, the compact must be enacted by
2any number of states whose electoral votes, in the aggregate,
3constitute a majority of the entire number of electoral votes
4nationally. The compact provides that any member state may
5withdraw from the compact. However, if a withdrawal occurs
6six months or less before the end of a president’s term,
7the withdrawal shall not take effect until a president has
8qualified to serve the next term.
-5-
ss/jh