Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

Senate File 382 - Introduced
                                  SENATE FILE 382
                                  BY WAHLS
                            A BILL FOR
An Act relating to the conduct of elections, including the
  recounting of ballots, the mailing of absentee ballots, and
  in-person absentee voting.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
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    Section 1. Section 50.48, subsection 3, Code 2021, is
 amended to read as follows:
    3. a. The recount shall be conducted or overseen by a board
 which shall consist of one of the following:
    (1) For a county with a population of fewer than twenty-five
 thousand people:
    (1) (a) A designee Two designees of the candidate
 requesting the recount, who shall be named in the written
 request when it is filed.
    (2) (b) A designee Two designees of the apparent winning
 candidate, who shall be named by that candidate at or before
 the time the board is required to convene.
    (3) (c) A person chosen jointly by the members designated
 under subparagraphs (1) subparagraph divisions (a) and (2) (b).
    (2) For a county with a population of at least twenty-five
 thousand but less than ninety thousand people:
    (a) Three designees of the candidate requesting the
 recount, who shall be named in the written request when it is
 filed.
    (b) Three designees of the apparent winning candidate, who
 shall be named by that candidate at or before the time the
 board is required to convene.
    (c) A person chosen jointly by the members designated under
 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b).
    (3) For a county with a population of ninety thousand people
 or greater:
    (a) Three designees of the candidate requesting the
 recount, who shall be named in the written request when it is
 filed.
    (b) Three designees of the apparent winning candidate, who
 shall be named by that candidate at or before the time the
 board is required to convene.
    (c) Three persons chosen jointly by the members designated
 under subparagraph divisions (a) and (b).
    b. The commissioner shall convene the persons designated
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                                S.F. 382
 under paragraph “a”, subparagraphs subparagraph (1) and,
 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), subparagraph (2),
 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), or subparagraph (3),
 subparagraph divisions (a) and (b), not later than 9:00 a.m.
 on the seventh day following the county board’s canvass of the
 election in question. If those two members cannot agree on the
 third additional member or members by 8:00 a.m. on the ninth
 day following the canvass, they shall immediately so notify the
 chief judge of the judicial district in which the canvass is
 occurring, who shall appoint the third additional member or
 members not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day following
 the canvass.
    Sec. 2. Section 50.48, subsection 4, paragraphs a and c,
 Code 2021, are amended to read as follows:
    a. When all members of the recount board have been selected,
 the board shall undertake and complete the required recount
 as expeditiously as reasonably possible. The recount board
 may conduct the recount or may direct the county commissioner
 and the county commissioner’s staff to conduct the recount.
 The recount board shall oversee any recount conducted by the
 county commissioner and the county commissioner’s staff. The
 commissioner or the commissioner’s designee shall supervise the
 handling of ballots to ensure that the ballots are protected
 from alteration or damage. The board or county commissioner
 shall open only the sealed ballot containers from the precincts
 specified to be recounted in the request or by the recount
 board. The board or county commissioner shall recount only
 the ballots which were voted and counted for the office in
 question, including any disputed ballots returned as required
 in section 50.5. If automatic tabulating equipment was used
 to count the ballots, the The recount board may request the
 commissioner to retabulate the ballots using the automatic
 tabulating equipment on a per precinct basis, and the recount
 board shall visually examine each ballot that the automatic
 tabulating equipment identifies as containing an undervote, an
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                                S.F. 382
 overvote, or a write-in vote to determine voter intent. The
 same program used for tabulating the votes on election day
 shall be used at the recount unless the program is believed or
 known to be flawed.
    c. The ballots shall be resealed by the recount board
 or county commissioner before adjournment and shall be
 preserved as required by section 50.12. At the conclusion of
 the recount, the recount board shall make and file with the
 commissioner a written report of its findings, which shall be
 signed by at least two two-thirds of the members of the recount
 board. The recount board shall complete the recount and file
 its report not later than the eighteenth day following the
 county board’s canvass of the election in question.
    Sec. 3. Section 53.8, subsection 1, paragraph a, unnumbered
 paragraph 1, Code 2021, is amended to read as follows:
    Upon receipt of an application for an absentee ballot and
 immediately after the absentee ballots are printed, but not
 more than twenty-nine forty-five days before the election, the
 commissioner shall mail an absentee ballot to the applicant
 within twenty-four hours, except as otherwise provided in
 subsection 3. When the United States post office is closed in
 observance of a federal holiday and is not delivering mail on
 the twenty-ninth forty-fifth day before the election, the first
 day to mail absentee ballots is the next business day on which
 mail delivery is available. The absentee ballot shall be sent
 to the registered voter by one of the following methods:
    Sec. 4. Section 53.10, subsection 1, Code 2021, is amended
 to read as follows:
    1. Not more than twenty-nine forty-five days before the
 date of the primary election or the general election, the
 commissioner shall provide facilities for absentee voting in
 person at the commissioner’s office. This service shall also
 be provided for other elections as soon as the ballots are
 ready, but in no case shall absentee ballots be available under
 this section more than twenty-nine forty-five days before an
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 election.
    Sec. 5. Section 53.11, subsection 1, paragraph a, Code 2021,
 is amended to read as follows:
    a. Not more than twenty-nine forty-five days before the
 date of an election, satellite absentee voting stations may be
 established throughout the cities and county at the direction
 of the commissioner and shall be established upon receipt
 of a petition signed by not less than one hundred eligible
 electors requesting that a satellite absentee voting station
 be established at a location to be described on the petition.
 However, if a special election is scheduled in the county on a
 date that falls between the date of the regular city election
 and the date of the city runoff election, the commissioner is
 not required to establish a satellite absentee voting station
 for the city runoff election.
                           EXPLANATION
         The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
          the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
    This bill relates to the conduct of elections, including the
 recounting of ballots, the mailing of absentee ballots, and
 in-person absentee voting.
    The ballot changes the size of a recount board based on the
 population of the county. For a county with a population of
 fewer than 25,000 people, the bill requires a recount board
 to consist of two designees of each contestant and one person
 agreed upon by the designees. For a county of at least 25,000
 but less than 90,000 people, the bill requires a recount board
 to consist of three designees of each contestant and one person
 agreed upon by the designees. For a county of 90,000 people or
 greater, the bill requires a recount board to consist of three
 designees of each contestant and three persons agreed upon by
 the designees. The bill requires a report of a recount board
 to be signed by two-thirds of the members of the board.
    The bill allows the recount board to direct the county
 commissioner or the county commissioner’s staff to conduct a
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                                S.F. 382
 recount. The board requires the recount board to oversee any
 recount conducted by the county commissioner or the county
 commissioner’s staff.
    The bill allows a recount to be conducted on a per precinct
 basis using automatic tabulating equipment. The bill requires
 the recount board to visually examine each ballot that the
 equipment identifies as containing an undervote, an overvote,
 or a write-in vote to determine voter intent.
    The bill allows a county commissioner of elections to begin
 the mailing of absentee ballots starting 45 days before an
 election.
    The bill also allows in-person absentee voting at a county
 commissioner’s office or at a satellite location to begin 45
 days before an election.
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Statutes affected: 
Introduced: 50.48, 53.10, 53.11