Bills › 89th General Assembly
Relating to the conduct of elections, including the counting and recounting of ballots and the certification of results
Topics:Elections & voting
Where it is now
- Done: IntroducedFebruary 10, 2022
- Stopped: SubcommitteeDied when the General Assembly ended
- Next: House committee
- Next: Passes the House
- Next: Senate committee
- Next: Passes the Senate
- Next: To the Governor
- Next: Signed into law
Died when the session ended The 2022 session adjourned on May 24, 2022, the General Assembly’s last regular session. Bills that didn’t pass both chambers died. What’s a funnel?
What’s in it
AI summary New rules would change how Iowa counts and recounts election ballots. Instead of using machines, recount boards would now have to count ballots by hand. The law also says that if a voter makes a mark on a ballot, it should be counted as a vote unless the board finds it was a mistake.1
Read the official explanation
This bill relates to the conduct of elections, including the counting and recounting of ballots and the certification of results. The bill strikes a provision of law making a ballot invalid if the voter placed an identifying mark on the ballot. The bill requires a county board of supervisors to certify the results of an election within one week after convening. The bill changes the date by which the secretary of state must certify an election from days after the election to days after the election. The bill requires all recounts of ballots cast for an office to include each precinct in which a ballot was cast for that office. If ballots were cast for the office in more than one county, the county commissioner of elections who receives a request for a recount shall immediately forward the request to each other county commissioner of elections of a county where a ballot was cast for that office, who shall conduct a recount for the office. A candidate for a statewide office shall not be required to pay more than one bond for a recount. The bill changes the size of a recount board based on the number of ballots cast in the election. For a county in which 3,500 or fewer ballots were cast, the bill requires a recount board to consist of one designee of each contestant and one person agreed upon by the designees. For a county in which at least 3,501 but not more than 12,000 ballots were cast, the bill requires a recount board to consist of two designees of each contestant and two persons agreed upon by the designees. For a county in which 12,001 ballots or more were cast, the bill requires a recount board to consist of three designees of each contestant and three persons agreed upon by the designees. The bill requires a report of a recount board to be signed by two-thirds of the members of the board. The bill strikes a provision allowing a recount board to use automatic tabulating equipment to retabulate ballots and requires a recount board to conduct each recount by hand. The bill also requires a recount board to presume that any mark in a voting target constitutes a vote for the candidate or public measure listed next to the target unless the board finds that the mark was made inadvertently or that the voter attempted to erase the mark.