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

All ballots endorsed as required by sections 50.3 and 50.4 shall be enclosed and securely sealed in an envelope, on which the precinct election officials shall endorse “Disputed ballots”, with a signed statement of the precinct in which, and date of the election at which, they we…

1. The commissioner who was responsible for conducting an election may request an administrative audit when the commissioner is informed or suspects that voting equipment used in the election malfunctioned or that programming errors may have affected the outcome of the election, …

1. After each general election, the state commissioner shall, with the cooperation of the county commissioners, conduct an audit of the official canvass of votes from the preceding general election. 2. The state commissioner shall determine the number of counties and precincts to…

Members of local law enforcement agencies and the state patrol are authorized to take all reasonable actions to prevent violations of this chapter . 2021 Acts, ch 12, §42, 73

If the number of votes cast for any office or on any question exceeds the number of voters’ declarations of eligibility signed as required by section 49.77 , such fact shall be certified, with the number of the excess, in the return. [C51, §263; R60, §498; C73, §627; C97, §1140; …

If, in case of such excess, the vote of the precinct where the error occurred would change the result as to a county office if the person appearing to be elected were deprived of so many votes, then the election shall be set aside as to that person in that precinct, and a new ele…

If the error is in relation to a district or state office, the error shall be certified with the number of the excess to the state commissioner. If the error affects the result of the election, the canvass shall be suspended and a new vote ordered in the precinct where the error …

Ballots not voted, or spoiled by voters while attempting to vote, shall be returned by the precinct election officials to the commissioner, and a receipt taken for the ballots. The spoiled ballots shall be preserved for twenty-two months following elections for federal offices an…

1. At all elections conducted under chapter 49 , and at any other election unless the commissioner directs otherwise pursuant to section 49.26 , votes shall be cast, registered, recorded, and counted by means of optical scan voting systems, in accordance with this chapter . 2. As…

In case any elector after entering the voting booth shall ask for further instructions concerning the manner of voting, two precinct election officials of opposite political parties shall give such instructions to the elector; but no precinct election official or other election o…

Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary, for elections held on or after November 4, 2008, a county shall use an optical scan voting system only. The requirements of the federal Help America Vote Act , Pub. L. No. 107-252 , 116 Stat. 1666 , relating to disabled voters shall …

After the total vote for each candidate has been ascertained, and before leaving the room or voting place, the precinct election officials shall make and sign the tally list required in section 50.16 . One copy of the printed results from each tabulating device shall be signed by…

Nothing in this chapter shall be construed as prohibiting the use of a separate ballot for public measures. [S13, §1137-a27; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 926; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §52.24 ] 2009 Acts, ch 57, §55 Single ballot, exceptions; see also §49.30 , 49…

1. The question of a constitutional convention, amendments, and public measures including bond issues may be voted on ballots in the following manner: a. The entire convention question, amendment, or public measure shall be printed and displayed prominently in at least one place …

1. Every optical scan voting system approved by the state board of examiners for voting systems shall: a. Provide for voting in secrecy, except as to persons entitled by sections 49.90 and 49.91 to assistance. The state board of examiners for voting systems shall determine whethe…

The commissioner having jurisdiction of any precinct for which the board of supervisors has adopted voting by means of an optical scan voting system shall, as soon as practicable thereafter, provide for use at each election held in the precinct optical scan ballots and ballot mar…

The commissioner of each county in which the use of an optical scan voting system in one or more precincts has been authorized shall print text on optical scan ballots using black ink on white paper and shall determine the arrangement of candidates’ names and public questions upo…

The commissioner shall provide for each precinct where an optical scan voting system is in use at least one sample optical scan ballot which shall be an exact copy of the official ballots as printed for that precinct. The sample ballot shall be posted prominently within the polli…

The county board of supervisors, on the adoption and purchase of an optical scan voting system, may issue bonds under section 331.441, subsection 2 , paragraph “b” , subparagraph (1). [S13, §1137-a14; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 906; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81 , S…

Preparations for voting and voting at any election in a precinct where votes are to be received on optical scan ballots shall be in accordance with the provisions of chapter 49 governing voting upon conventional paper ballots with the following exceptions: 1. Before entering the …

1. In any county in which the board of supervisors has adopted voting by means of an optical scan voting system, the commissioner shall also conduct absentee voting by use of such a system. In any other county, the commissioner may with approval of the board of supervisors conduc…

Before the date of any election at which votes are to be cast by means of an optical scan voting system, the commissioner shall have the automatic tabulating equipment, including the portable tabulating devices, tested to ascertain that it will correctly count the votes cast for …

The tabulation of absentee and provisional ballots cast by means of an optical scan voting system shall be conducted as follows: 1. a. If any ballot is found damaged or defective, so that it cannot be counted properly by the automatic tabulating equipment, a true duplicate shall …

1. The state commissioner of elections shall appoint three members to a board of examiners for voting systems, not more than two of whom shall be from the same political party. The examiners shall hold office for staggered terms of six years, subject to removal at the pleasure of…

With the advice of the board of examiners for voting systems, the state commissioner shall adopt by rule standards for the examination and testing of devices for the electronic transmission of election results. All voting systems which contain devices for the electronic transmiss…

1. A person or corporation owning or being interested in an optical scan voting system may request that the state commissioner call upon the board of examiners to examine and test the system. Within seven days of receiving a request for examination and test, the state commissione…

1. Each examiner is entitled to one hundred fifty dollars for compensation and expenses in making an examination and report under section 52.5 , to be paid by the person or corporation applying for the examination. However, each examiner shall receive not to exceed fifteen hundre…

1. Any registered voter may, subject to the provisions of this chapter , vote at any election: a. When the voter expects to be absent on election day during the time the polls are open from the precinct in which the voter is a registered voter. b. When, through illness or physica…

1. Not more than twenty 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 r…

1. a. Not more than twenty days before the date of an election, satellite absentee voting stations 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 locatio…

The commissioner shall enclose the absentee ballot in an unsealed envelope, to be furnished by the commissioner, which envelope shall bear upon its face the words “county commissioner of elections”, the address of the commissioner’s office, and the same serial number appearing on…

1. The registered voter, on receipt of an absentee ballot, shall mark the ballot in such a manner that no other person will know how the ballot is marked. 2. Registered voters who are blind, cannot read, or because of any other physical disability, are unable to mark their own ab…

After marking the ballot, the voter shall make and subscribe to the affidavit on the affidavit envelope or on the return envelope marked with the affidavit, and fold the ballot or ballots, separately, so as to conceal the markings on them, and deposit them in the envelope, and se…

1. If the commissioner mailed the ballot pursuant to section 53.8, subsection 1 , paragraph “a” , subparagraph (1), the sealed envelope bearing the voter’s affidavit and containing the absentee ballot shall be enclosed in a return envelope which shall be securely sealed. If the c…

1. For the purposes of this chapter : a. “Postal service barcode” means a barcode purchased by the sender and supplied by the United States postal service that is used to sort and track letters and flat packages and is printed on an absentee ballot return envelope at the directio…

1. When the return envelope containing the completed absentee ballot is received by the commissioner, the commissioner shall at once record receipt of such ballot. Absentee ballots shall be stored in a secure place until they are delivered to the absentee and special voters preci…

1. The commissioner shall maintain a list of the absentee ballots provided to registered voters, the serial number appearing on the unsealed envelope, the date the application for the absentee ballot was received, the date the absentee ballot was sent to the registered voter requ…

The state commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to chapter 17A for the implementation of this chapter . 2019 Acts, ch 148, §30, 33 Referred to in §53.49

1. a. Any registered voter, under the circumstances specified in section 53.1 , may on any day, except election day, and not more than seventy days prior to the date of the election, apply in person for an absentee ballot at the commissioner’s office or at any location designated…

1. There is established in each county a special precinct to be known as the absentee ballot and special voters precinct. Its jurisdiction shall be conterminous with the borders of the county, for the purposes specified by sections 53.22 and 53.23 , and the requirement that preci…

1. A voter who has requested an absentee ballot may obtain a replacement ballot if the voter declares that the original ballot was lost or did not arrive. The commissioner upon receipt of a written or oral request for a replacement ballot shall provide a duplicate ballot. The sam…

1. For purposes of this section , “assisted living program” means a program certified pursuant to section 231C.3 that meets the standards for a dementia-specific assisted living program, as established by rule by the department of inspections, appeals, and licensing. 2. a. (1) A …

1. The election board of the absentee ballot and special voters precinct shall be appointed by the commissioner in the manner prescribed by sections 49.12 and 49.13 , except that the number of precinct election officials appointed to the board shall be sufficient to complete the …

1. a. If the absentee voter’s affidavit lacks the voter’s signature, if the applicant is not a duly registered voter on election day in the precinct where the absentee ballot was cast, if the envelope marked with the affidavit contains more than one ballot of any one kind, or if …

1. Every ballot not counted shall be endorsed on the back with the following: Rejected because (giving reason therefor). 2. All rejected ballots shall be enclosed and securely sealed in an envelope on which the precinct election officials shall endorse “Defective ballots”, with a…

If the ballot is rejected, the envelope marked with the affidavit, with the voter’s endorsement thereon, shall be returned with the rejected ballot in the envelope endorsed “Defective ballots”. [C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 953; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §53.27 ]…