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Amendments › HF 928

Amendment H-1155 to HF 928

Relating to the recounting and contesting of elections, and providing penalties

Adopted · March 25, 2025

Filed March 24, 2025 in the House by

What it changes

  1. Page 1, before line 1 by inserting: “Section
  2. Section 43.49, subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: On the Monday or Tuesday following the primary election, the board of supervisors shall meet, open, and canvass the returns from each voting precinct in the county, and make abstracts thereof, stating the following: Sec. ___. Section 43.56, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection. Sec. ___. Section 46.24, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
  3. A judge of the supreme court, court of appeals, or district court including a district associate judge, full-time associate juvenile judge, or full-time associate probate judge, or a clerk of the district court must receive more affirmative than negative votes to be retained in office. When the poll is closed, the election judges shall publicly canvass the vote forthwith. The board of supervisors shall canvass the returns on the Monday or Tuesday after the election, and shall promptly certify the number of affirmative and negative votes on each judge or clerk to the state commissioner of elections. Sec. ___. Section 50.21, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
  4. The commissioner shall reconvene the election board of the special precinct established by section 53.20 not earlier than noon on the second day following each election which is required by law to be canvassed on the Monday or Tuesday following the election. If the second day following such an election is a legal holiday the special precinct election board may be convened at noon on the day following the election, and if the canvass of the election is scheduled at any time earlier than the Monday Tuesday following the election, the special precinct election board shall be reconvened at noon on the day following the election. Sec. ___. Section 50.24, subsections 1 and 4, Code 2025, are amended to read as follows:
  5. The county board of supervisors shall meet to canvass the vote on the first Monday or Tuesday after the day of each election to which this chapter is applicable, unless the law authorizing the election specifies another date for the canvass. If that Monday or Tuesday is a public holiday, section 4.1, subsection 34 , controls.
  6. For a regular or special city election or a city runoff election, if the city is located in more than one county, the controlling commissioner for that city under section 47.2 shall conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of the election. However, if a recount is requested pursuant to section 50.48 , the controlling commissioner shall conduct the second canvass within two business days after the conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner conducting a canvass for the city pursuant to subsection 1 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and public measures of that city to the controlling commissioner for that city, along with individual tallies for each write-in candidate. At the second canvass, the county board of supervisors of the county of the controlling commissioner shall canvass the abstracts received pursuant to this subsection and shall prepare a combined city abstract stating the number of votes cast in the city for each office and on each question on the ballot for the city election. The combined city abstract shall further indicate the name of each person who received votes for each office on the ballot, the number of votes each person named received for that office, and the number of votes for and against each question submitted to the voters at the election. The votes of all write-in candidates who each received less than five percent of the total votes cast in the city for an office shall be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”. Sec. ___. Section 50.24, subsection 5, paragraph a, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: a. For a regular or special school election, if the school district is located in more than one county, the controlling commissioner for that school district under section 47.2 shall conduct a second canvass on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of election. However, if a recount is requested pursuant to section 50.48 , the controlling commissioner shall conduct the second canvass within two business days after the conclusion of the recount proceedings. Each commissioner conducting a canvass for the school district pursuant to subsection 1 shall transmit abstracts for the offices and public measures of that school district to the controlling commissioner for that school district, along with individual tallies for each write-in candidate. At the second canvass the county board of supervisors of the controlling county shall canvass the abstracts received pursuant to this subsection and shall prepare a combined school district abstract stating the number of votes cast in the school district for each office and on each question on the ballot for the school election. The combined school district abstract shall further indicate the name of each person who received votes for each office on the ballot, the number of votes each person named received for that office, and the number of votes for and against each question submitted to the voters at the election. The votes of all write-in candidates who each received less than five percent of the total votes cast in the school district for an office shall be reported collectively under the heading “scattering”.”
  7. Page 1, lines 9 and 10, by striking “day second Wednesday following the county board’s canvass of the” and inserting “day following the county board’s canvass of the”
  8. Page 1, line 15, by striking “one percent or less” and inserting “less than either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is lesser”
  9. Page 1, line 29, by striking “second Wednesday following” and inserting “day following the county board’s canvass of”
  10. Page 1, line 34, by striking “one percent or less” and inserting “less than fifteen hundredths of one percent for the election or nomination of a candidate for a statewide elected office or federal office, or less than either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is lesser, for all other elections or nominations”
  11. By striking page 2, line 18, through page 3, line 11, and inserting: “Sec. ___. Section 50.48, subsection 2, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection.”
  12. Page 3, line 22, by striking “the commissioner, the commissioner’s”
  13. Page 3, by striking lines 23 and 24 and inserting “the commissioner and the commissioner’s staff . The commissioner may assign persons employed by the commissioner to tally ballots during the election as members of the recount board. If the commissioner assigns persons employed by the commissioner to tally ballots during the election as members of the recount board to recount an election for a partisan office, the commissioner shall assign an equal number of persons from each political party.”
  14. Page 4, by striking lines 3 through 5 and inserting “of the recount in each county where the recount is being conducted. A candidate may replace an observer appointed by the candidate at any time.”
  15. Page 4, line 16, by striking “If automatic tabulating” and inserting “If automatic tabulating”
  16. Page 4, by striking lines 17 and 18 and inserting “equipment was used to count the ballots, the recount board may request the commissioner to retabulate the ballots using”
  17. Page 4, line 19, by striking “the automatic tabulating equipment.” and inserting “the automatic tabulating equipment.”
  18. Page 4, by striking lines 22 through 25 and inserting “A recount shall be conducted by the use of automatic tabulating equipment, except that the state commissioner, for an election for a member of the general assembly, or commissioner, for a local elective office, may direct that an election be conducted by hand due to extraordinary circumstances. The same method of conducting the recount shall be used in each precinct where the recount is conducted. The commissioner shall make all pieces of automatic tabulating equipment available for use in the recount.”
  19. Page 5, line 8, by striking “subsection” and inserting “subsections”
  20. Page 5, line 9, by striking “commissioner” and inserting “recount board”
  21. Page 5, line 12, after “recount” by inserting “in a county”
  22. Page 5, after line 20 by inserting: “NEW SUBSECTION .
  23. Before a recount board has issued its final report, the candidate or person who requested the recount may reach an agreement with the apparent winner to accept the results of the original canvass by submitting the agreement in writing to each recount board that is conducting the recount. Upon receipt of the agreement, the recount boards shall cease their work and report to each county commissioner in a county where the recount is being conducted that the results of the original canvass are the official results. Sec. ___. Section 50.49, subsection 1, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
  24. A recount for any public measure shall be ordered by the board of canvassers if a petition requesting a recount is filed with the state commissioner for a public measure voted on by the electors of the entire state, or the county commissioner for all other public measures, not later than three days after the completion of the canvass of votes for the election at which the question appeared on the ballot and the abstracts prepared pursuant to section 50.24 indicate that the difference between the affirmative and negative votes cast on the public measure is less than fifteen hundredths of one percent for a public measure voted on by the electors of the entire state, or less than either one percent or fifty votes, whichever is lesser, for all other public measures . The petition shall be signed by the greater of not less than ten eligible electors or a number of eligible electors equaling one percent of the total number of votes cast upon the public measure. Each petitioner must be a person who was entitled to vote on the public measure in question or would have been so entitled if registered to vote. Sec. ___. Section 50.49, subsection 4, Code 2025, is amended by striking the subsection. Sec. ___. Section 50.50, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 50.50 Administrative recounts audits .
  25. The commissioner who was responsible for conducting an election may request an administrative recount 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, or if the precinct election officials report counting errors to the commissioner after the conclusion of the canvass of votes in the precinct. An administrative recount audit shall be conducted by the board of the special precinct established by section 53.23 . Bond shall not be required for an administrative recount. The state commissioner may adopt rules for administrative recounts audits .
  26. If the recount board finds that there is an error in the programming of any voting equipment which may have affected the outcome of the election for any office or public measure on the ballot, the recount board shall describe the errors in its report to the commissioner. The commissioner shall notify the board of supervisors. The supervisors shall determine whether to order an administrative recount for any or all of the offices and public measures on the ballot. Each political party, as defined in section 43.2, may appoint up to five observers to witness an audit conducted pursuant to this section. The observers shall be appointed by the county chairperson or, if the county chairperson fails to make an appointment, by the state chairperson. However, if either or both political parties fail to appoint an observer, the board may continue with the proceedings.”
  27. Page 6, by striking lines 5 through
  29. Page 7, after line 13 by inserting: “Sec. ___. Section 60.2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 60.2 Clerk. The secretary of state clerk of the supreme court shall be the clerk of the court , or, in the secretary of state’s absence or inability to act, the clerk of the supreme court .”
  30. Page 7, after line 31 by inserting: “Sec. ___. Section 61.2, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows: 61.2 Clerk. The secretary of state clerk of the supreme court shall be the clerk of this court ; but if the person holding that office is a party to the contest, the clerk of the supreme court, or, in case of that person’s absence or inability, the auditor of state shall be clerk .”
  31. Page 8, lines 29 and 30, by striking “five district judges” and inserting “a district court judge from the judicial district where the county election is being contested”
  32. Page 9, after line 20 by inserting: “Sec. ___. Section 260C.15, subsection 5, Code 2025, is amended to read as follows:
  33. The votes cast in the election shall be canvassed and abstracts of the votes cast shall be certified as required by section 277.20 . In each county whose commissioner of elections is the controlling commissioner for a merged area under section 47.2 , the county board of supervisors shall convene on the second Monday or Tuesday after the day of the election to canvass the abstracts of votes cast from each county in the merged area, and declare the results of the voting. The commissioner shall at once issue certificates of election to each person declared elected, and shall certify to the merged area board in substantially the manner prescribed by section 50.27 the result of the voting on any public question submitted to the voters of the merged area. Members elected to the board of directors of a merged area shall qualify by taking the oath of office prescribed in section 277.28 .”
  34. By renumbering as necessary.

Official amendment (PDF) · In the Bill Book