Senate Study Bill 1199 - Introduced
SENATE FILE _____
BY (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON
STATE GOVERNMENT BILL BY
CHAIRPERSON SMITH)
A BILL FOR
1 An Act relating to the conduct of elections, including
2 absentee ballots and voter list maintenance activities,
3 making penalties applicable, and including effective date
4 provisions.
5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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1 Section 1. Section 39A.2, subsection 1, Code 2021, is
2 amended by adding the following new paragraph:
3 NEW PARAGRAPH. g. Failure to perform duties. As an
4 election official, fails to perform duties prescribed by
5 chapters 39 through 53, except for section 48A.41, or fails to
6 follow or implement guidance issued pursuant to section 47.1,
7 or performs those duties and responsibilities in such a way as
8 to hinder or disregard the object of the law.
9 Sec. 2. Section 39A.3, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2021,
10 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
11 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH. (9) Fails to adequately perform voter
12 list maintenance in violation of section 48A.41.
13 Sec. 3. Section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph b,
14 subparagraph (1), Code 2021, is amended to read as follows:
15 (1) Serving as a member of a challenging committee or
16 observer under section 49.104, subsection 2, 5, or 6, 1,
17 paragraph “b”, “e”, or “f”, while serving as a precinct election
18 official at the polls.
19 Sec. 4. Section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph b,
20 subparagraph (2), Code 2021, is amended by striking the
21 subparagraph.
22 Sec. 5. Section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 2021,
23 is amended by adding the following new subparagraph:
24 NEW SUBPARAGRAPH. (14) Interferes with a person permitted
25 at a polling place pursuant to section 49.104.
26 Sec. 6. Section 39A.4, subsection 1, paragraph c,
27 subparagraphs (10) and (11), Code 2021, are amended to read as
28 follows:
29 (10) Returning a voted absentee ballot, by mail, to a ballot
30 drop box, or in person, to the commissioner’s office and the
31 person returning the ballot is not the voter, the voter’s
32 designee, or a special precinct election official designated
33 pursuant to section 53.22, subsection 2 a person prohibited
34 to collect and deliver a completed ballot pursuant to section
35 53.33.
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1 (11) Making a false or untrue statement reporting that
2 a voted absentee ballot was returned to the commissioner’s
3 office, by mail or in person, or to a ballot drop box, by
4 a person other than the voter, the voter’s designee, or a
5 special precinct election official designated pursuant to
6 section 53.22, subsection 2 prohibited to collect and deliver a
7 completed ballot pursuant to section 53.33.
8 Sec. 7. Section 39A.6, subsection 3, Code 2021, is amended
9 to read as follows:
10 3. a. This notice is not a final determination of facts
11 or law in the matter, and does not entitle a person to a
12 proceeding under chapter 17A. Upon issuance of a technical
13 infraction to a county commissioner, the state commissioner
14 shall also impose a fine not to exceed ten thousand dollars to
15 be deposited in the general fund.
16 b. A county commissioner shall pay a fine issued pursuant to
17 this section or file an appeal pursuant to chapter 17A within
18 sixty days. A county commissioner who fails to pay a fine that
19 was not dismissed pursuant to chapter 17A shall be suspended
20 from office for a period not to exceed two years pursuant to
21 sections 66.7 and 66.8.
22 c. If a county commissioner is suspended pursuant to
23 paragraph “b”, the state commissioner shall direct the deputy of
24 the county commissioner to oversee the functions of the office
25 until the suspension is revoked or the office is vacated and a
26 successor is elected. The state commissioner may direct the
27 state commissioner’s staff to assist in the performance of the
28 duties of the county commissioner.
29 Sec. 8. Section 39A.6, Code 2021, is amended by adding the
30 following new subsection:
31 NEW SUBSECTION. 4. Upon issuing a technical infraction,
32 the state commissioner shall immediately inform the attorney
33 general and relevant county attorney if the apparent violation
34 constitutes or may constitute election misconduct under this
35 chapter.
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1 Sec. 9. NEW SECTION. 39A.7 Election misconduct ——
2 investigation.
3 1. The attorney general or county attorney shall
4 investigate allegations of election misconduct reported to the
5 attorney general or county attorney. Election misconduct by an
6 election official shall also be investigated for prosecution
7 under chapter 721.
8 2. Upon the completion of an investigation required by this
9 section, the attorney general or county attorney shall submit
10 the results of the investigation to the state commissioner and
11 explain whether the attorney general or county attorney will
12 pursue charges.
13 Sec. 10. Section 43.20, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
14 by striking the subsection and inserting in lieu thereof the
15 following:
16 1. Nomination papers shall be signed by eligible electors as
17 provided in section 45.1.
18 Sec. 11. Section 43.20, subsection 2, Code 2021, is amended
19 by striking the subsection.
20 Sec. 12. Section 44.1, Code 2021, is amended to read as
21 follows:
22 44.1 Political nonparty Nonparty political organizations.
23 1. Any convention or caucus of eligible electors
24 representing a political organization which is not a political
25 party as defined by law, may, for the state, or for any
26 division or municipality thereof, or for any county, or for
27 any subdivision thereof, for which such convention or caucus
28 is held, make one nomination of a candidate for each office to
29 be filled therein at the general election. However, in order
30 to qualify for any nomination made for a statewide elective
31 office by such a political organization there shall be in
32 attendance at the convention or caucus where the nomination
33 is made a minimum of two hundred fifty five hundred eligible
34 electors including at least one eligible elector from each of
35 twenty-five counties. In order to qualify for any nomination
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1 to the office of United States representative there shall be
2 in attendance at the convention or caucus where the nomination
3 is made a minimum of fifty two hundred eligible electors who
4 are residents of the congressional district including at least
5 one eligible elector from each of at least one-half of the
6 counties of the congressional district. In order to qualify
7 for any nomination to an office to be filled by the voters
8 of a county or of a city there shall be in attendance at the
9 convention or caucus where the nomination is made a minimum of
10 ten twenty eligible electors who are residents of the county
11 or city, as the case may be, including at least one eligible
12 elector from at least one-half of the voting precincts in that
13 county or city. In order to qualify for any nomination made
14 for the general assembly there shall be in attendance at the
15 convention or caucus where the nomination is made a minimum
16 of ten twenty-five eligible electors who are residents of the
17 representative district or twenty fifty eligible electors who
18 are residents of the senatorial district, as the case may be,
19 with at least one eligible elector from one-half of the voting
20 precincts in the district in each case. The names of all
21 delegates in attendance at such convention or caucus and such
22 fact shall be certified to the state commissioner together with
23 the other certification requirements of this chapter.
24 2. A candidate who has been nominated under a political
25 party under chapter 43 shall not be eligible for nomination
26 under this chapter for the same office in the same election
27 year.
28 Sec. 13. Section 45.1, Code 2021, is amended to read as
29 follows:
30 45.1 Nominations by petition.
31 1. Nominations for candidates for president and vice
32 president, governor and lieutenant governor, and for other
33 statewide elected offices United States senator may be made
34 by nomination petitions signed by not less than one thousand
35 five hundred eligible electors residing in not less than ten
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1 counties of the state three thousand five hundred eligible
2 electors, including at least one hundred eligible electors each
3 from at least nineteen counties of the state.
4 1A. Nominations for candidates for statewide offices other
5 than those listed in subsection 1 may be made by nomination
6 petitions signed by not less than two thousand five hundred
7 eligible electors, including at least seventy-seven eligible
8 electors from not less than eighteen counties of the state.
9 2. Nominations for candidates for a representative in
10 the United States house of representatives may be made by
11 nomination petitions signed by not less than the number of
12 eligible electors equal to the number of signatures required in
13 subsection 1 divided by the number of congressional districts.
14 Signers of the petition shall be eligible electors who are
15 residents of the congressional district one thousand seven
16 hundred twenty-six eligible electors who are residents of the
17 congressional district, including at least forty-seven eligible
18 electors each from at least one-half of the counties in the
19 congressional district.
20 3. Nominations for candidates for the state senate may
21 be made by nomination petitions signed by not less than one
22 hundred eligible electors who are residents of the senate
23 district.
24 4. Nominations for candidates for the state house of
25 representatives may be made by nomination petitions signed by
26 not less than fifty eligible electors who are residents of the
27 representative district.
28 5. Nominations for candidates for offices filled by the
29 voters of a whole county may be made by nomination petitions
30 signed by not less than one hundred fifty eligible electors who
31 are residents of the county equal in number to at least one
32 percent of the number of registered voters in the county on
33 July 1 in the year preceding the year in which the office will
34 appear on the ballot, or by at least two hundred fifty eligible
35 electors who are residents of the county, whichever is less.
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1 6. Nominations for candidates for the office of county
2 supervisor elected by the voters of a supervisor district
3 may be made by nomination petitions signed by not less than
4 one hundred fifty eligible electors who are residents of the
5 supervisor district equal in number to at least one percent
6 of the number of registered voters in the supervisor district
7 on July 1 in the year preceding the year in which the office
8 will appear on the ballot, or by at least one hundred fifty
9 eligible electors who are residents of the supervisor district,
10 whichever is less.
11 7. a. Nomination papers for the offices of president and
12 vice president shall include the names of the candidates for
13 both offices on each page of the petition. A certificate
14 listing the names of the candidates for presidential electors,
15 one from each congressional district and two from the state at
16 large, shall be filed in the state commissioner’s office at the
17 same time the nomination papers are filed.
18 b. Nomination papers for the offices of governor and
19 lieutenant governor shall include the names of candidates for
20 both offices on each page of the petition. Nomination papers
21 for other statewide elected offices and all other offices shall
22 include the name of the candidate on each page of the petition.
23 8. Nominations for candidates for elective offices in
24 cities where the council has adopted nominations under this
25 chapter may be submitted as follows:
26 a. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 9, in cities
27 having a population of three thousand five hundred twenty
28 thousand or greater according to the most recent federal
29 decennial census, nominations may be made by nomination papers
30 signed by not less than twenty-five one hundred eligible
31 electors who are residents of the city or ward.
32 b. In cities having a population of one hundred five
33 thousand or greater, but less than three thousand five hundred
34 twenty thousand, according to the most recent federal decennial
35 census, nominations may be made by nomination papers signed by
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1 not less than ten fifty eligible electors who are residents of
2 the city or ward.
3 c. In cities having a population of less than one hundred
4 one thousand or greater, but less than five thousand, according
5 to the most recent federal decennial census, nominations may
6 be made by nomination papers signed by not less than five
7 twenty-five eligible electors who are residents of the city.
8 d. In cities having a population of less than one thousand
9 according to the most recent decennial census, nominations
10 may be made by nomination papers signed by not less than ten
11 eligible electors who are residents of the city.
12 9. Nominations for candidates, other than partisan
13 candidates, for elective offices in special charter cities
14 subject to section 43.112 may be submitted as follows:
15 a. For the office of mayor, and alderman at large,
16 nominations and ward alderman in special charter cities subject
17 to the provisions of section 43.112 may be made by nomination
18 papers signed by not less than one hundred eligible electors
19 residing in the city equal in number to at least two percent of
20 the total vote received by all candidates for mayor at the last
21 preceding city election.
22 b. For the office of ward alderman, nominations may be made
23 by nomination papers signed by eligible electors residing in
24 the ward equal in number to at least two percent of the total
25 vote received by all candidates for ward alderman in that ward
26 at the last preceding city election.
27 Sec. 14. Section 47.1, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
28 to read as follows:
29 1. The secretary of state is designated as the state
30 commissioner of elections and shall supervise the activities of
31 the county commissioners of elections. There is established
32 within the office of the secretary of state a division of
33 elections which shall be under the direction of the state
34 commissioner of elections. The state commissioner of
35 elections may appoint a person to be in charge of the division
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1 of elections who shall perform the duties assigned by the
2 state commissioner of elections. The state commissioner of
3 elections shall prescribe uniform election practices and
4 procedures, shall prescribe the necessary forms required
5 for the conduct of elections, shall assign a number to each
6 proposed constitutional amendment and statewide public measure
7 for identification purposes, and shall adopt rules, pursuant to
8 chapter 17A, to carry out this section. The state commissioner
9 of elections may issue guidance that is not subject to the
10 rulemaking process to clarify election laws and rules.
11 Sec. 15. Section 47.2, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
12 to read as follows:
13 1. The county auditor of each county is designated as the
14 county commissioner of elections in each county. The county
15 commissioner of elections shall conduct voter registration
16 pursuant to chapter 48A and conduct all elections within the
17 county. The county commissioner of elections does not possess
18 home rule powers with respect to the exercise of powers or
19 duties related to the conduct of elections prescribed by
20 statute or rule, or guidance issued pursuant to section 47.1.
21 Sec. 16. Section 47.7, subsection 2, Code 2021, is amended
22 by adding the following new paragraph:
23 NEW PARAGRAPH. f. (1) The state registrar shall, in the
24 first quarter o