Fiscal Note
Fiscal Services Division
HF 590 – Elections (LSB2298HV)
Staff Contact: Maria Wagenhofer (515.281.5270) maria.wagenhofer@legis.iowa.gov
Fiscal Note Version – New
Description
House File 590 relates to the conduct of elections, including absentee ballots and voter list
maintenance activities, and makes penalties applicable. The Bill takes effect upon enactment.
Election Misconduct and Applicable Penalties (Sections 1-2, 5-9, 28, 52)
House File 590 creates penalties for election officials who willfully fail to perform duties.
Specifically, the Bill changes the following offenses to apply to the individuals specified:
• Election misconduct in the first degree — Election officials who fail to perform duties
prescribed in Iowa Code chapters 39 through 53, with the exception of voter registration
maintenance; fail to follow or implement guidance issued by the Secretary of State’s (SOS)
Office; or perform duties in a way that hinders or disregards the object of the law.
• Election misconduct in the second degree — Election officials who fail to adequately
perform voter list maintenance as found through an audit by the SOS Office and
investigated by the relevant county attorney and Attorney General.
• Election misconduct in the third degree — Election officials who interfere with a person who
is allowed to be at a polling place.
The Bill also applies election misconduct in the third degree to a person who returns a voted
absentee ballot, including to a ballot drop box, who is not the registered voter, an individual who
lives in the same household as the registered voter, an immediate family member of the
registered voter, a caregiver of the registered voter, or an election official assisting a registered
voter who became a patient, tenant, or resident of a hospital, assisted living program, or health
facility. Election misconduct in the third degree is also applied to a person who makes a false or
untrue statement that an absentee ballot was returned by a prohibited person.
House File 590 also requires the SOS Office to issue a fine of up to $10,000 to county
commissioners upon issuance of a technical infraction. A county commissioner who does not
pay a fine that was not dismissed pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 17A is to be suspended from
office for a period not to exceed two years. The Bill requires the Attorney General and county
attorney to investigate allegations of election misconduct for prosecution under Iowa Code
chapter 721 and submit the results to the SOS Office.
Other Provisions
House File 590 also includes the following changes:
• Prohibits nominations by a nonparty political organization for a person who was nominated
by a political party for the same office in the same election.
• Changes signature requirements for nomination petitions and changes the required
convention or caucus size for nominees from nonparty political organizations.
• Allows the SOS Office to issue guidance on elections and eliminates home rule power for
county commissioners.
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• Requires the SOS Office to verify all voters in the statewide voter registration file annually
and submit a report to the General Assembly regarding the number of registrations
canceled.
• Requires the SOS Office to update voter registration information using the Electronic
Registration Information Center (ERIC).
• Requires each county commissioner to participate in the United States Postal Service
National Change of Address (NCOA) Program, send a notice to and mark as inactive a voter
who has not participated in the most recent general election and has not reported a change
of address or registered again, and report inactive records annually to the SOS Office.
• Requires the SOS Office to conduct an audit of counties’ voter registration maintenance
activities in April of each odd-numbered year.
• Allows oversight of county commissioners by the SOS Office during election periods.
• Requires replacement of individuals on a precinct election board following a party affiliation
change.
• Prohibits individuals who are standing for election on the ballot from assisting voters in
casting a ballot.
• Authorizes law enforcement to take reasonable actions to prevent violation of Iowa Code
chapter 50.
• Changes the number of days prior to an election that any registered voter can apply for an
absentee ballot from 120 days to 70 days and prohibits county commissioners from sending
absentee ballot applications to a voter.
• Prohibits absentee ballot applications from being provided with any field prefilled, excluding
the type and date of the election.
• Requires the county commissioner to notify a voter within 24 hours that the absentee ballot
application cannot be processed if the application is received between 5:00 p.m. on the 11th
day before an election and 5:00 p.m. on the 7th day before an election.
• Changes the number of days prior to an election that an absentee ballot can be mailed to a
voter from 29 days to 18 days and prohibits an absentee ballot from being mailed to any
person who did not apply for an absentee ballot.
• Changes the number of days before an election for in-person absentee voting at a county
commissioner’s office and satellite locations from 29 days to 18 days and eliminates the
county commissioners’ ability to establish satellite absentee voting stations at their
discretion.
• Removes a postmark as a method of verifying the date when an absentee ballot was
mailed.
• Limits drop boxes to one per county and establishes guidelines.
• Changes the process for a county commissioner to notify a voter that an absentee ballot is
incomplete and establishes guidelines for submission of an affidavit to the special voters
precinct board.
• Specifies that an affidavit that lacks the voter’s signature is to be considered incomplete.
• Directs counties and special voters precinct boards to record absentee ballot statistics,
including additional tracking requirements, and requires submission to the SOS office on a
daily basis and following an election.
• Makes certain changes to county elections.
The LSA has not yet received requested data regarding the changes associated with the
above provisions of the Bill. As a result, the fiscal impact for these changes cannot be
determined at this time and this Fiscal Note will be updated when the requested data is
received. The fiscal impact discussed below relates only to the added penalties of
election misconduct.
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Background
• There are approximately 2.1 million active, registered voters in Iowa. During the 2020
general election, approximately 1.0 million voters cast an absentee ballot. Table 1 below
provides additional voting information.
Table 1 — Secretary of State’s Office General Election Turnout Report
General Election Absentee Total Active/Registered % Active Voter Inactive/Registered % Total Voter
Election Day Voters Voters Voters Voters Turnout Voters Turnout
2016 934,219 647,152 1,581,371 2,000,567 79.1% 172,418 72.8%
2018 787,074 547,205 1,334,279 2,011,617 66.3% 156,297 61.6%
2020 698,557 1,001,573 1,700,130 2,094,770 81.2% 148,988 75.8%
NOTE: Number of active and inactive voters for 2016 are as of November 8, 2016; 2018 numbers are as of November 6, 2018; and 2020 numbers are as of
November 3, 2020.
• Per Iowa Code chapter 47, the SOS Office is designated as the State commissioner of
elections and Iowa county auditors are designated as the county commissioners of
elections.
• Under current law, most violations of election law under Iowa Code chapters 39 through 53
are prosecuted under Iowa Code chapter 39A. According to the Criminal and Juvenile
Justice Planning Division (CJJP) of the Department of Human Rights, in FY 2019 and
FY 2020, there were five convictions of election misconduct in the first degree and seven
convictions of election misconduct in the third degree.
• Election misconduct in the first degree is a Class D felony, which is punishable by
confinement for no more than five years and a fine of at least $1,025 but not more than
$10,245.
• Election misconduct in the second degree is an aggravated misdemeanor, which is
punishable by confinement for no more than two years and a fine of at least $855 but not
more than $8,540.
• Election misconduct in the third degree is a serious misdemeanor, which is punishable by
confinement for no more than one year and a fine of at least $430 but not more than $2,560.
Assumptions
• The following will not change over the projection period: charge, conviction, and sentencing
patterns and trends, prisoner length of stay (LOS), revocation rates, plea bargaining, and
other criminal justice system policies and practices.
• A lag effect of six months is assumed from the effective date of this Bill to the date of first
entry of affected offenders into the correctional system.
• Marginal costs for county jails cannot be estimated due to a lack of data. For purposes of
this analysis, the marginal cost for county jails is assumed to be $50 per day.
Correctional Impact
The correctional impact of HF 590 cannot be determined. The Bill establishes new criminal
provisions, and no historical data exists to make a reliable estimate.
Table 2 below shows estimates for sentencing to State prison, parole, probation, or Community-
Based Corrections (CBC) residential facilities; LOS under those supervisions; and supervision
marginal costs per day for all convictions ranging from serious misdemeanors to Class D
felonies. Refer to the Legislative Services Agency (LSA) memo addressed to the General
Assembly, Cost Estimates Used for Correctional Impact Statements, dated January 22, 2021,
for information related to the correctional system.
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 Table 2 — Sentencing Estimates and LOS
Avg
Avg Percent FY 20 Percent Length FY 20
Length FY 20 Percent Avg Cost Sentenced Marginal Ordered of Stay Average
of Stay Marginal Ordered Avg LOS Per Day to CBC Cost to in Marginal Avg LOS Cost Per
Conviction Percent Prison Cost/Day to on on Residential CBC Per County County Cost Per on Day
Offense Class to Prison (months) Prison Probation Probation Probation Facility Day Jail Jail Day Parole Parole
Class D Felony
(Persons) 77.0% 16.0 $20.33 47.8% 30.5 $5.38 10.5% $14.78 38.6% N/A $50.00 11.5 $5.38
Aggravated
Misdemeanor
(Persons) 43.0% 7.1 $20.33 51.7% 20.2 $5.38 3.3% $14.78 70.7% N/A $50.00 6.0 $5.38
Serious
Misdemeanor 2.0% 5.0 $20.33 56.0% 13.4 $5.38 1.0% $14.78 69.0% N/A $50.00 2.4 $5.38
Minority Impact
Of the 12 election misconduct convictions in FY 2019 and FY 2020, 83.3% were committed by
Caucasian offenders and 16.7% were committed by African American offenders. In FY 2020,
Caucasians and African Americans made up 89.9% and 4.1% of the adult population of the
State of Iowa, respectively.
House File 590 establishes new criminal provisions to include actions not previously penalized
under Iowa Code chapter 39A. As a result, the CJJP cannot use prior existing data to estimate
the minority impact. Refer to the LSA memo addressed to the General Assembly, Minority
Impact Statement, dated January 27, 2021, for information related to minorities in the criminal
justice system.
Fiscal Impact
House File 590 establishes new criminal provisions, and the resulting cost to the justice system
cannot be estimated. Table 3 shows estimates for the average State cost per offense class
type. The estimates include operating costs incurred by the Judicial Branch, the State Public
Defender, and the Department of Corrections (DOC) for one additional conviction. The cost
would be incurred across multiple fiscal years for prison and parole supervision.
Table 3 — Average State Cost Per Offense Class Type
Offense Class Total Minimum Cost Total Maximum Cost
Serious Misdemeanor $410 $7,500
Aggravated Misdemeanor $3,700 $7,800
Class D Felony $7,700 $13,500
The DOC has stated that crimes against professionals are rare and assumes that county
commissioners and election officials are likely to comply with the Bill. It is assumed that county
commissioners will adhere to the new provisions and little revenue will be generated to the
General Fund as a result of technical infraction fines.
There may be additional costs to the Attorney General’s Office for expenses incurred as a result
of increased investigations of election misconduct; however, those costs cannot be determined
until additional information is received.
As stated previously, the fiscal impact of the various provisions outlined on pages 1 and 2 of this
fiscal note cannot be estimated at this time. This fiscal note will be updated as more information
is received.
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Sources
Department of Human Rights, Division of Criminal and Juvenile Justice Planning
Department of Corrections
/s/ Holly M. Lyons
February 23, 2021
Doc ID 1213558
The fiscal note for this Bill was prepared pursuant to Joint Rule 17 and the Iowa Code. Data used in
developing this fiscal note is available from the Fiscal Services Division of the Legislative Services
Agency upon request.
www.legis.iowa.gov
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Statutes affected:
Introduced: 39A.2, 39A.4, 49.104, 66.7, 43.20, 44.1, 45.1, 43.112, 47.2, 47.7, 48A.28, 48A.30, 49.77, 49.89, 53.2, 53.1, 69.14, 53.8, 53.17, 53.10, 53.11, 53.17A, 53.33, 53.19, 39.3, 53.22, 53.23, 39A.6, 331.756