Relating to the conduct of elections

This bill relates to the conduct of elections. DIVISION I —— ELECTION MISCONDUCT —— INVESTIGATION. The bill defines “election day” for the purposes of election misconduct to include any day on which voting takes place in person, including absentee voting at the offices of a county commissioner of elections or at a satellite absentee voting station. The bill requires a law enforcement agency or other entity of a state or political subdivision of the state that is investigating an election, the actions of election officials, or election misconduct to immediately notify the state commissioner of elections, or the governor if the state commissioner of elections is under investigation. DIVISION II —— CANCELLATION OF VOTER REGISTRATION. The bill requires a voter registration that has been designated as incomplete, pending, or unconfirmed for 90 days to be canceled if the county commissioner of elections has been unable to contact the registrant or the registrant has failed to submit sufficient information to complete, verify, or correct the defect in the registration. DIVISION III —— ELECTION RECOUNTS —— PUBLIC MEASURES. The bill changes the minimum threshold for conducting a recount of a public measure that is not voted on by the electors of the entire state and that requires an affirmative vote of at least 60 percent of the votes cast on the measure to be a difference between passage and defeat of at least 1 percent or 50 votes, whichever is lesser. The bill changes the makeup of a recount board for a public measure to consist of the county commissioner of elections and the commissioner’s staff, which may include persons employed by the commissioner to tally ballots, instead of a designee of the petitioner requesting the recount, a designee selected by the commissioner, and a third person chosen jointly by the other designees. DIVISION IV —— ELECTION SECURITY. The bill updates references to the United States election assistance commission and the federal Help America Vote Act. The bill requires all election equipment, including election equipment that is not currently in use, to be secured with a tamper-evident seal at all times. DIVISION V —— SPECIAL PRECINCT ELECTION BOARD. on election day for general and statewide special elections. on election day for all elections. DIVISION VI —— LOCAL ELECTION FILINGS. The bill requires all filings for city and school elections to be made with the county commissioner of elections and removes the authority of a county commissioner of elections to designate a city clerk to accept election filings. The bill also requires objections to petitions in city elections to be heard by the county auditor, county treasurer, and county attorney. DIVISION VII —— ABSENTEE BALLOT TRACKING. The bill requires the absentee ballot request form and absentee ballot tracking application developed by the state commissioner of elections to allow a voter to opt to receive notifications of changes in the status of the voter’s absentee ballot request form or absentee ballot by electronic mail, text message, or other electronic means. The bill strikes the original implementation date for the absentee ballot tracking application. This division of the bill takes effect July 1, 2027.