Bill Text: IA HF2466 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the administration of elections. (Formerly HSB 628.) Effective date: 07/01/2024.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2024-05-08 - Signed by Governor. H.J. 937. [HF2466 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-HF2466-Enrolled.html

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House File 2466 - Enrolled
House File 2466
AN ACT
RELATING TO THE ADMINISTRATION OF ELECTIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 47.4, Code 2024, is amended to read as
follows:
47.4 Election filing deadlines.
If the deadline for a filing pertaining to an election
falls on a day that the state or county commissioner’s office
is closed for business, the deadline shall be extended to
the next day that the office of state commissioner or county
commissioner is open for business to receive the filing. This
section does not apply to the deadline for voter registration
under section 48A.9, subsection 2 .

House File 2466, p. 2
Sec. 2. Section 48A.9, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
2. The commissioner’s office shall be open from 8:00 a.m.
until at least 5:00 p.m. on the day registration closes before
each regularly scheduled election. However, if the last day to
register to vote for a regularly scheduled election falls on
the day after Thanksgiving, the deadline shall be the following
Monday.
Sec. 3. Section 49.124, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
1. The commissioner shall conduct, not later than the day
before each primary and general election, a training course for
all election personnel , and the commissioner may do so before
any other election the commissioner administers . The personnel
shall include all precinct election officials and any other
persons who will be employed in or around the polling places
on election day. At least two precinct election officials who
will serve on each precinct election board at the forthcoming
election shall attend the training course. If the entire board
does not attend, those members who do attend shall so far as
possible be persons who have not previously attended a similar
training course. The state commissioner shall adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 17A to implement instruction required under
this subsection .
Sec. 4. Section 49.128, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
No later than twenty days following a general an election,
the commissioner shall place on file in the commissioner’s
office a certification that the county met the following
requirements at the general election:
Sec. 5. Section 49.128, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
by adding the following new paragraph:
NEW PARAGRAPH . f. The state commissioner may adopt rules
pursuant to chapter 17A to require that the commissioner
provide and certify additional information.
Sec. 6. Section 49.128, subsection 2, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
2. a. If the county is required to conduct an audit under
section 50.51 , the commissioner shall include a copy of the

House File 2466, p. 3
results with the certification required under this section .
b. If a county is not required to conduct an audit under
section 50.51 , the commissioner shall include a copy of the
certification required under this section along with the
election canvass summary report required under section 50.30A .
Sec. 7. NEW SECTION . 49.129 Pre-election submission
requirements.
1. No later than ten days before the election, the
commissioner shall notify the state commissioner of all of the
following:
a. The date, time, and location the testing of voting
equipment required pursuant to section 52.35 is to be
performed.
b. The date the election notice will be published pursuant
to section 49.53 and where it will appear.
c. The date the election personnel training course required
pursuant to section 49.124 is to be conducted.
2. The state commissioner may adopt rules pursuant to
chapter 17A to require that the commissioner provide and
certify additional information.
Sec. 8. Section 50.15A, Code 2024, is amended to read as
follows:
50.15A Unofficial results of voting —— general election only .
1. In order to provide the public with an early source
of election results before the official canvass of votes,
the state commissioner of elections, in cooperation with the
commissioners of elections, shall conduct an unofficial canvass
of election results following the closing of the polls on
the day of a regular city election, regular school election,
primary election, or general election , or any other election
at the discretion of the state commissioner . The unofficial
canvass shall report election results for national offices,
statewide offices, the office of state representative, the
office of state senator, and other offices or public measures
at the discretion of the state commissioner of elections.
The unofficial canvass shall also report the total number of
ballots cast at the general reported election.
2. a. After the polls close on election day, the
commissioner of elections shall periodically provide election

House File 2466, p. 4
results to the state commissioner of elections as the precincts
in the county report election results to the commissioner
pursuant to section 50.11 . If the commissioner determines
that all precincts will not report election results before
the office is closed, the commissioner shall report the most
complete results available prior to leaving the office at the
time the office is closed as provided in section 50.11 . The
commissioner shall specify the number of precincts included in
the report to the state commissioner of elections and provide
an explanation in writing as to why all precincts will not be
reported .
b. The state commissioner of elections shall tabulate
unofficial election results as the results are received from
the commissioners of elections and shall periodically make the
reports of the results available to the public.
3. Before the day of the general reported election, the
state commissioner of elections shall provide a form and
instructions for reporting unofficial election results pursuant
to this section .
4. The state commissioner shall set a date and time by which
a commissioner must complete testing of the system used for the
unofficial canvass before the reported election.
Sec. 9. Section 50.48, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
5. a. (1) At the conclusion of a recount, the recount
board shall make and file with the commissioner a written
report of its findings, signed by a majority of the recount
board.
(2) The commissioner or commissioner’s designee may
assist in compiling the written report. The written report
shall include a full tally and accounting of ballots reviewed
by the recount board and shall be reported as required by
sections 50.24 and 53.20. The written report must allow the
commissioner to correct the canvass of voters in the manner
required by law, if applicable.
b. If the recount board’s report is that the abstracts
prepared pursuant to the county board’s canvass were incorrect
as to the number of votes cast for the candidates for the
office or nomination in question, in that county or district,

House File 2466, p. 5
the commissioner shall at once so notify the county board. The
county board shall reconvene within three days after being so
notified, but no later than noon on the twenty-seventh day
following the election in question for a recount of the offices
of president and vice president, and shall correct its previous
proceedings.
Sec. 10. Section 53.17, subsection 4, unnumbered paragraph
1, Code 2024, is amended to read as follows:
When a person designated by the voter pursuant to section
53.33 retrieves a completed absentee ballot from the voter, the
designee shall , upon request of the voter, fill out a receipt
to be retained by the voter. The state commissioner shall
prescribe a form for receipts required by this subsection . The
receipt shall include all of the following:
Sec. 11. Section 53.17, subsection 4, paragraph d, Code
2024, is amended by striking the paragraph.
Sec. 12. Section 53.17, subsection 4, paragraph f, Code
2024, is amended to read as follows:
f. A statement that the completed absentee ballot will
be delivered to the commissioner’s office within seventy-two
hours of retrieving it from the voter or before the closing of
the polls on election day, whichever is earlier , or that the
completed absentee ballot will be mailed to the commissioner
within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter .
Sec. 13. Section 53.20, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code
2024, is amended to read as follows:
b. For the primary election, general election , and for any
election in which the commissioner determines in advance of
the election to report the results of the special precinct by
the resident precincts of the voters who cast absentee and
provisional ballots, the commissioner shall prepare a separate
absentee ballot style for each precinct in the county and shall
program the voting system to produce reports by the resident
precincts of the voters.
Sec. 14. Section 54.7, subsection 1, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
1. The presidential electors and alternate electors shall
meet in the capitol, at the seat of government, on the first

House File 2466, p. 6
Monday Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December next
following their election.
Sec. 15. Section 277.4, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended
to read as follows:
4. Any person on whose behalf nomination petitions have been
filed under this section may withdraw as a candidate by filing
a signed statement to that effect with the secretary consistent
with section 44.9 , subsection 5 .
______________________________ ______________________________
PAT GRASSLEY AMY SINCLAIR
Speaker of the House President of the Senate
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the House and
is known as House File 2466, Ninetieth General Assembly.
______________________________
MEGHAN NELSON
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved _______________, 2024 ______________________________
KIM REYNOLDS
Governor