Senate Study Bill 1013 - Introduced
SENATE FILE _____
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
LOCAL GOVERNMENT BILL BY
CHAIRPERSON WEBSTER)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act requiring primary elections for the nomination of
2 candidates for city, school district, and merged area
3 elections, and including applicability provisions.
4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 43.24, subsection 1, paragraph b,
2 subparagraph (4), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
3 (4) Those filed with the city clerk or the secretary of
4 the school board under this chapter, at least thirty-six days
5 before the city or school primary election.
6 Sec. 2. Section 43.24, subsection 3, Code 2025, is amended
7 by adding the following new paragraph:
8 NEW PARAGRAPH. d. Objections filed with the secretary of
9 the school board shall be considered as provided in paragraph
10 “b”. The secretary of the school board shall forward the
11 objection to the commissioner of a county including the school
12 district.
13 Sec. 3. Section 43.78, subsection 1, paragraph f, Code 2025,
14 is amended to read as follows:
15 f. For any other partisan office filled by the voters of a
16 subdivision of a county, by those members of the party’s county
17 central committee who represent the precincts lying within that
18 district, who shall be convened or reconvened as appropriate by
19 the county party chairperson. However, this paragraph shall
20 not apply to partisan city offices in special charter cities
21 for which candidates are nominated under this chapter, but such
22 ballot vacancies shall be filled as provided by section 43.116.
23 Sec. 4. Section 43.112, Code 2025, is amended to read as
24 follows:
25 43.112 Nominations in certain cities and school districts.
26 1. This chapter shall, so far as applicable, govern the
27 nominations of candidates by political parties for all offices
28 to be filled by a direct vote of the people in cities acting
29 under a special charter in 1973 and having a population of
30 over fifty thousand, except all such cities as choose by
31 special election to conduct nonpartisan city elections under
32 the provisions of chapter 44, 45, or 376. An election on the
33 question of conducting city elections in such a special charter
34 city on a nonpartisan basis may be called by the city council
35 on its own initiative, and shall be called by the council upon
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1 receipt of a petition of the voters which so requests and
2 is presented in conformity with section 362.4, but a special
3 election on that question shall be held concurrently with any
4 election being held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday
5 in November of any odd-numbered year and school districts.
6 2. Sections 43.114 through 43.118 shall apply only to all
7 cities to which this chapter is made applicable by this section
8 and school districts.
9 Sec. 5. Section 43.114, Code 2025, is amended to read as
10 follows:
11 43.114 Time of holding special charter city or school
12 district primary.
13 In special charter cities and school districts holding a
14 city or school district primary election under the provisions
15 of section 43.112, the primary shall be held on the first
16 Tuesday in October of the year in which regular city or school
17 elections are held.
18 Sec. 6. Section 43.115, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended
19 to read as follows:
20 1. All candidates for nominations to be made in city primary
21 elections held pursuant to section 43.112 shall file nomination
22 papers with the city clerk no later than 5:00 p.m. forty days
23 before the date of the election as established by section
24 43.114, except that candidates for precinct committee member
25 shall file affidavits of candidacy as required by section
26 420.130. The number of eligible electors signing petitions
27 required for printing the name of a candidate upon the official
28 primary ballot shall be one hundred for an office to be filled
29 by the voters of the entire city and twenty-five for an office
30 to be filled by the voters of a subdivision of the city.
31 Sec. 7. Section 43.115, Code 2025, is amended by adding the
32 following new subsection:
33 NEW SUBSECTION. 1A. All candidates for nominations to be
34 made in school district primary elections held pursuant to
35 section 43.112 shall file nomination papers with the secretary
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1 of the school board no later than 5:00 p.m. forty days before
2 the date of the election as established by section 43.114. The
3 number of eligible electors signing petitions required for
4 printing the name of a candidate upon the official primary
5 ballot shall be twenty-five for a seat to be filled by the
6 voters of the entire school district and ten for a seat to be
7 filled by the voters of a director district.
8 Sec. 8. Section 43.116, Code 2025, is amended to read as
9 follows:
10 43.116 Ballot vacancies in special charter city and school
11 district elections.
12 1. A vacancy on the ballot for an election at which city
13 officers or school board members are to be chosen, and for
14 which candidates have been nominated under this chapter, exists
15 when any political party lacks a candidate for an office to be
16 filled at that election because:
17 a. Either no person filed at the time required by section
18 43.115 as a candidate for the party’s nomination for that
19 office in the city or school primary election held under
20 section 43.112, or all persons who did so subsequently withdrew
21 as candidates, were found to lack the requisite requirements
22 for the office, or died before the date of the city or school
23 primary election, and no candidate received a number of
24 write-in votes sufficient for nomination under section 43.53;
25 or
26 b. The person nominated in the city or school primary
27 election as the party’s candidate for that office withdrew
28 by giving written notice to that effect to the city clerk or
29 secretary of the school board not later than 5:00 p.m. on the
30 day of the canvass of that city or school primary election.
31 2. A ballot vacancy as defined by this section may be filled
32 by the city central committee of the party on whose ticket
33 the vacancy exists or, in the case of an officer elected by
34 the voters of a district within the city, by those members of
35 the committee who represent the precincts lying within that
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1 district. The name of a candidate so designated to fill such a
2 ballot vacancy shall be submitted in writing to the city clerk
3 or school district not later than 5:00 p.m. on the seventh day
4 following the city or school primary election.
5 3. If a special election is held to fill a vacancy in an
6 elective city office or school board seat, nominations by
7 political parties shall be made following the provisions of
8 subsection 2.
9 Sec. 9. Section 43.118, Code 2025, is amended to read as
10 follows:
11 43.118 Expense.
12 1. The entire expense of conducting the city primary
13 election and preparation of election registers shall be audited
14 by the city council and paid by the city.
15 2. The entire expense of conducting the school primary
16 election and preparation of election registers shall be audited
17 by the school board and paid by the school district.
18 Sec. 10. Section 45.1, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code 2025,
19 is amended to read as follows:
20 a. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 10, in
21 In cities having a population of twenty-five thousand or
22 greater according to the most recent federal decennial census,
23 nominations may be made by nomination papers signed by not less
24 than seventy-five eligible electors who are residents of the
25 city or ward.
26 Sec. 11. Section 45.1, subsection 10, Code 2025, is amended
27 by striking the subsection.
28 Sec. 12. Section 49.31, subsection 2, paragraph d, Code
29 2025, is amended to read as follows:
30 d. On the regular and special city election and school
31 election ballots the names of candidates for city, school
32 district, and merged area offices shall be arranged by drawing
33 lots for position. The commissioner shall hold the drawing on
34 the second business day following the deadline for filing of
35 nomination papers or petitions under sections 260C.15, 277.4,
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1 and 376.4. If a candidate withdraws, dies, or is removed
2 from the ballot after the ballot position of names has been
3 determined, such candidate’s name shall be removed from the
4 ballot, and the order of the remaining names shall not be
5 changed.
6 Sec. 13. Section 50.48, subsection 1, paragraph a,
7 unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as
8 follows:
9 The county board of canvassers shall order a recount of the
10 votes cast for a particular office or nomination in one or
11 more specified election precincts in that county if a written
12 request for a recount is made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the
13 third day following the county board’s canvass of the election
14 in question. For a city runoff election held pursuant to
15 section 376.9, the written request must be made not later than
16 5:00 p.m. on the day following the county board’s canvass of
17 the city runoff election. The request shall be filed with the
18 commissioner of that county and shall be signed by either of
19 the following:
20 Sec. 14. Section 50.48, subsection 8, Code 2025, is amended
21 by striking the subsection.
22 Sec. 15. Section 69.12, subsection 1, paragraph b,
23 subparagraph (2), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
24 (2) The candidate filing deadline specified in section
25 376.4 for the regular city election or the filing deadline
26 specified in section 372.13, subsection 2, for a special city
27 election.
28 Sec. 16. Section 260C.15, subsections 2 and 3, Code 2025,
29 are amended to read as follows:
30 2. A candidate for member of the board of directors of a
31 merged area shall be nominated by a petition signed by not
32 less than fifty eligible electors of the director district
33 from which the member is to be elected. The petition shall
34 state the number of the director district from which the
35 candidate seeks election, and the candidate’s name and status
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1 as an eligible elector of the director district. Signers of
2 the petition, in addition to signing their names, shall show
3 their residence, including street and number if any, the school
4 district in which they reside, and the date they signed the
5 petition. A person may sign nomination petitions for more
6 than one candidate for the same office, and the signature
7 is not invalid solely because the person signed nomination
8 petitions for one or more other candidates for the office. The
9 petition shall include the affidavit of the candidate being
10 nominated, stating the candidate’s name and residence, and
11 that the individual is a candidate, is eligible for the office
12 sought, and if elected will qualify for the office as provided
13 in section 277.4.
14 3. Nomination papers on behalf of candidates for member of
15 the board of directors of a merged area shall be filed with
16 the secretary of the board not earlier than seventy-one days
17 nor later than 5:00 p.m. on the forty-seventh day prior to
18 the election at which members of the board are to be elected.
19 On the day following the last day on which certificates of
20 nomination petitions can be filed, and no later than 5:00 p.m.
21 on that day, the secretary shall deliver all certificates
22 of nomination petitions so filed, together with the text of
23 any public measure being submitted by the board of directors
24 to the electorate, to the merged area’s controlling county
25 commissioner of elections under section 47.2. That controlling
26 commissioner shall certify the names of candidates, and the
27 text and summary of any public measure being submitted to the
28 electorate, to all county commissioners of elections in the
29 merged area by the forty-second day prior to the election.
30 Sec. 17. Section 260C.15, subsection 4, paragraphs a and b,
31 Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
32 a. Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination
33 petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by
34 any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for
35 the office in question.
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1 b. The objection must be filed with the secretary of the
2 board at least forty-two days before the day of the election
3 at which members of the board are elected. When objections
4 are filed, notice shall immediately be given to the candidate
5 affected, addressed to the candidate’s place of residence as
6 given on the candidate’s affidavit, stating that objections
7 have been made to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to
8 the eligibility of the candidate, and also stating the time and
9 place the objections will be considered. The board secretary
10 shall also attempt to notify the candidate by telephone if
11 the candidate provided a telephone number on the candidate’s
12 affidavit.
13 Sec. 18. Section 275.25, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
14 2025, is amended to read as follows:
15 b. The election shall be conducted as provided in section
16 sections 277.3, and nomination petitions shall be filed
17 pursuant to section 277.4, except as otherwise provided in
18 this subsection. Nomination petitions shall be filed with the
19 secretary of the board of the existing school district in which
20 the candidate resides not less than twenty-eight days before
21 the date set for the special school election. The secretary of
22 the board, or the secretary’s designee, shall be present in the
23 secretary’s office until 5:00 p.m. on the final day to file the
24 nomination papers. The nomination papers shall be delivered to
25 the commissioner no later than 5:00 p.m. on the twenty-seventh
26 day before the election.
27 Sec. 19. Section 277.4, Code 2025, is amended by striking
28 the section and inserting in lieu thereof the following:
29 277.4 Nominations —— primary elections.
30 Nominations shall be made by primary elections held pursuant
31 to sections 43.112 through 43.118.
32 Sec. 20. Section 277.5, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended
33 to read as follows:
34 1. Objections to the legal sufficiency of a nomination
35 petition or to the eligibility of a candidate may be filed by
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1 any person who would have the right to vote for a candidate for
2 the office in question. The objection must be filed with the
3 secretary of the school board at least forty-two days before
4 the day of the school election. When objections are filed
5 notice shall forthwith be given to the candidate affected,
6 addressed to the candidate’s place of residence as given on the
7 candidate’s affidavit, stating that objections have been made
8 to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to the eligibility
9 of the candidate, and also stating the time and place the
10 objections will be considered.
11 Sec. 21. Section 279.6, subsection 1, paragraph b,
12 subparagraph (1), Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
13 (1) If within fourteen days after publication of a notice
14 required pursuant to paragraph “a” for a vacancy that occurs
15 more than one hundred eighty days before the next regular
16 school election, or after the filing period closes pursuant
17 to section 277.4, subsection 1, for the next regular school
18 election, there is filed with the secretary of the school board
19 a petition requesting a special election to fill the vacancy,
20 an appointment to fill the vacancy is temporary until a
21 successor is elected and qualified, and the board shall call a
22 special election pursuant to section 279.7, to fill the vacancy
23 for the remaining balance of the unexpired term.
24 Sec. 22. Section 279.7, subsection 4, Code 2025, is amended
25 to read as follows:
26 4. Nomination petitions Nominations sh