Title II, ELECTIONS AND OFFICIAL DUTIES (Ch. 39 - 79)

1. The mail voter registration form prescribed by the federal election assistance commission shall be accepted for voter registration in Iowa if all required information is provided, if it is signed by the registrant, and if the form is timely received. 2. The state commissioner …

Electronic signatures shall be accepted. However, before the use of electronic signatures is accepted on voter registration forms, the state voter registration commission shall prescribe by rule the technological requirements for guaranteeing the security and integrity of electro…

1. The registration of a registered voter may be challenged by another registered voter of the same county subject to the conditions and limitations of this section . A challenge shall be a statement in writing to the commissioner alleging one or more of the following reasons the…

1. A challenge is valid if it meets the criteria in section 48A.14, subsections 1, 2, and 3 . 2. Upon receipt of a challenge which is not valid, the commissioner shall notify the challenger of the reason the challenge is not valid, and shall take no further action regarding the c…

1. At the time and place fixed for the hearing, the commissioner shall accept evidence on the challenge from the challenger and the challenged registrant, or from any person appearing on behalf of either, and review any documents or statements pertaining to the challenge received…

A person who meets the qualifications to vote may appear in person at the office of the county commissioner of registration and apply to register to vote. 94 Acts, ch 1169, §18 Referred to in §53.17

1. Each state motor vehicle driver’s license application, including any renewal application or application for a nonoperator’s identification card, submitted to the office of driver services of the state department of transportation shall serve as an application for voter registr…

1. The following state agencies are responsible for voter registration: a. All state offices that have direct client contact and provide applications for public assistance, including but not limited to offices administering the following programs: (1) The supplemental nutrition a…

The definitions established by this section and section 39.3 shall apply wherever the terms so defined appear in this chapter , unless the context in which any such term is used clearly requires otherwise. 1. “Commissioner of registration” means the county commissioner of electio…

A person who provides voter registration services as required by this subchapter shall not: 1. Seek to influence an applicant’s political preference or party registration. 2. Display a political preference or party affiliation. 3. Make any statement to an applicant or take any ac…

The state registrar of voters shall adopt administrative rules regulating the transmission of completed voter registration forms from voter registration agencies and from driver’s license stations, including county treasurer’s offices participating in county issuance of driver’s …

The secretary of state shall encourage volunteer organizations to undertake voter registration drives by providing registration forms. 94 Acts, ch 1169, §23 ; 97 Acts, ch 170, §14

1. At least twice during each school year, the board of directors of each school district operating a high school and the authorities in charge of each accredited nonpublic school shall offer the opportunity to register to vote to each student who is at least seventeen years of a…

1. A person who accepts a completed voter registration form from an applicant shall submit the form to the appropriate commissioner within seven days of receiving the form if the person accepting the form is doing so on behalf of any of the following: a. A political party, as def…

1. a. A person may pay, offer to pay, or accept compensation for assisting others in completing voter registration forms only if the compensation is based solely on the time spent providing the assistance. b. Paying, offering to pay, or receiving compensation based on the number …

1. a. Upon receipt of an application for voter registration, the commissioner of registration shall compare the Iowa driver’s license number, the Iowa nonoperator’s identification card number, or the last four numerals of the social security number provided by the registrant with…

1. a. Except as otherwise provided in paragraphs “b” and “c” of this subsection , or section 48A.26A , within seven working days of receipt of a voter registration form or change of information in a voter registration record the commissioner shall send an acknowledgment to the re…

1. Within twenty-one days of receiving a voter registration form completed under section 48A.7A , the commissioner shall send an acknowledgment to the registrant, in the manner provided in section 48A.26, subsections 2 through 5 , as applicable, at the mailing address shown on th…

The state registrar shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A to prescribe the form of written acknowledgments sent to a registrant by a commissioner pursuant to section 48A.26 or 48A.26A . 2017 Acts, ch 110, §20, 35, 36

1. Any voter registration form received by any voter registration agency, driver’s license station, including county treasurer’s offices participating in county issuance of driver’s licenses under chapter 321M , or the commissioner shall be considered as updating the registrant’s…

1. If the state registrar of voters receives information from another jurisdiction that a registered voter of this state may have voted or attempted to vote more than once in the same election, the state registrar shall provide the information to the appropriate commissioner. 2. …

1. Each commissioner shall conduct a systematic program that makes a reasonable effort to remove from the official list of registered voters the names of registered voters who have changed residence from their registration addresses. 2. a. A commissioner shall participate in the …

1. If a confirmation notice and return card sent pursuant to section 48A.28 is returned as undeliverable by the United States postal service, the commissioner shall make the registration record inactive and shall mail a notice to the registered voter at the registered voter’s mos…

The county commissioner of elections is designated the commissioner of registration for the county, and may appoint deputies and assistants, subject to the approval of the county board of supervisors, necessary to carry out the commissioner’s responsibilities under this chapter a…

1. The voter registration of a registered voter shall be canceled if any of the following occurs: a. The registered voter dies. For the purposes of this subsection , the commissioner may accept as evidence of death a notice from the state registrar of vital statistics forwarded b…

The state registrar of vital statistics shall transmit or cause to be transmitted to the state registrar of voters, once each calendar quarter, a certified list of all persons seventeen years of age and older in the state whose deaths have been reported to the state registrar of …

Twenty-two months after the next general election following the cancellation of a person’s voter registration, the commissioner may destroy all records of that person’s registration. At the discretion of the commissioner, canceled records may be donated to a historical society if…

When a client or applicant of a voter registration agency declines to register to vote, the record of the declination shall be kept by the voter registration agency for twenty-two months after the next general election after which time the agency may destroy the records. 94 Acts,…

Voter registration records are available for public inspection at reasonable times at the office of the county commissioner. The commissioner and any voter registration agency which has custody of voter registration records shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the name o…

1. The county commissioner of elections shall be responsible for the maintenance and storage of all paper and electronic voter registration records in the commissioner’s custody. Original registration records shall not be removed from the commissioner’s office or from any other d…

1. Voter registration agencies and the office of driver services of the state department of transportation may electronically transmit registration data to the state registrar of voters, who shall distribute the information, electronically or otherwise, to the appropriate commiss…

1. Voter registration records, including voter registration forms, shall be maintained in an electronic medium on the statewide voter registration system. A history of local election participation shall be maintained as part of the electronic record for at least two general, prim…

1. Any person may request of the registrar and shall receive, upon payment of the cost of preparation, a list of registered voters and other data on registration and participation in elections, in accordance with the following requirements and limitations: a. The registrar shall …

Information about individual registrants obtained from voter registration records shall be used only to request the registrant’s vote at an election, or for another genuine political purpose, or for a bona fide official purpose by an elected official, or for bona fide political r…

Before undertaking any voter registration duties, each voter registration officer, deputy, or assistant in whatever capacity, or clerk in the office of commissioner shall take an oath in the form prescribed by the state commissioner of elections. 94 Acts, ch 1169, §4

1. The commissioner of registration shall annually submit to the state registrar of voters a report regarding the number of voter registration records marked inactive or canceled pursuant to sections 48A.28 through 48A.30 . The state registrar of voters shall publish such reports…

1. The state registrar of voters shall conduct an audit of voter registration maintenance by each commissioner of registration in April of each odd-numbered year, on a schedule determined by the state registrar of voters. 2. If in the course of an audit under this section the sta…

1. An eligible elector wishing to vote in elections in Iowa shall register to vote as required by this chapter . 2. To be qualified to register to vote an eligible elector shall: a. Be a citizen of the United States. b. Be an Iowa resident. A person’s residence, for voting purpos…

Residence shall be determined in accordance with the following principles: 1. The residence of a person is in the precinct where the person’s home or dwelling is located. 2. A residence for purposes of this chapter cannot be established in a commercial or industrial building that…

The following persons are disqualified from registering to vote and from voting: 1. A person who has been convicted of a felony as defined in section 701.7 , or convicted of an offense classified as a felony under federal law. If the person’s rights are later restored by the gove…

An eligible elector may register to vote by appearing personally and completing a voter registration form at the office of the commissioner in the county in which the person resides, at a motor vehicle driver’s license station, including any county treasurer’s office that is part…

1. a. A person who is eligible to register to vote and to vote may register on election day by appearing in person at the polling place for the precinct in which the individual resides and completing a voter registration application, making written oath, and providing proof of id…

1. An eligible elector may request that a voter registration form be mailed to the elector. The completed form may be mailed or delivered by the registrant or the registrant’s designee to the commissioner in the county where the person resides or to the state commissioner of elec…

1. Registration closes at 5:00 p.m. fifteen days before each election. An eligible elector may register during the time registration is closed in the elector’s precinct but the registration shall not become effective until registration opens again in the elector’s precinct, excep…

The provisions of this chapter shall apply to all elections except those special elections which by the terms of the statutes authorizing them are exempt from the provisions of this chapter . [C97, §1088; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 719; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81…

1. Polling places for precincts outside the limits of a city, but within the township, or originally within and set off as a separate township from the township in which the city is in whole or in part situated, and a polling place for a township which entirely surrounds another …