A bill for an act relating to the use of automatic tabulating equipment and optical scan voting systems.

Senate

File

160

-

Introduced

SENATE

FILE

160

BY

SALMON

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

relating

to

the

use

of

automatic

tabulating

equipment

1

and

optical

scan

voting

systems.

2

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

3

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160

Section

1.

Section

49.26,

subsection

2,

Code

2025,

is

1

amended

to

read

as

follows:

2

2.

a.

The

commissioner

shall

determine

in

advance

of

each

3

election

conducted

for

a

city

of

three

thousand

five

hundred

or

4

less

population

or

for

any

school

district

whether

the

ballots

5

will

be

counted

by

automatic

tabulating

equipment

or

by

the

6

precinct

election

officials.

In

making

such

a

determination,

7

the

commissioner

shall

consider

voter

turnout

for

recent

8

similar

elections

and

factors

considered

likely

to

affect

voter

9

turnout

for

the

forthcoming

election.

10

b.

If

the

commissioner

concludes,

pursuant

to

paragraph

“a”

,

11

that

voting

will

probably

be

so

light

as

to

make

counting

of

12

ballots

by

the

precinct

election

officials

less

expensive

than

13

preparation

and

use

of

automatic

tabulating

equipment,

paper

14

ballots

may

be

used,

subject

to

paragraph

“c”

.

If

paper

ballots

15

are

used,

the

commissioner

shall

use

ballots

and

instructions

16

similar

to

those

used

when

the

ballots

are

counted

by

automatic

17

tabulating

equipment.

18

c.

Notwithstanding

a

determination

by

the

commissioner

19

pursuant

to

paragraph

“b”

,

upon

receipt

of

a

petition

signed

by

20

not

less

than

one

hundred

eligible

electors,

the

commissioner

21

shall

count

the

ballots

at

an

election

described

in

paragraph

22

“a”

using

automatic

tabulating

equipment.

A

petition

filed

23

under

this

paragraph

must

be

received

by

the

commissioner

24

not

later

than

5:00

p.m.

on

the

forty-second

day

before

the

25

election.

26

Sec.

2.

Section

52.1,

subsection

1,

Code

2025,

is

amended

27

to

read

as

follows:

28

1.

At

all

elections

conducted

under

chapter

49

,

and

at

29

any

other

election

unless

the

commissioner

directs

otherwise

30

pursuant

to

section

49.26

,

votes

shall

may

be

cast,

registered,

31

recorded,

and

counted

by

means

of

optical

scan

voting

systems,

32

in

accordance

with

this

chapter

.

33

Sec.

3.

Section

52.2,

Code

2025,

is

amended

to

read

as

34

follows:

35

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52.2

Optical

scan

voting

system

required

allowed

.

1

Notwithstanding

any

provision

to

the

contrary,

for

elections

2

held

on

or

after

November

4,

2008

July

1,

2025

,

a

county

shall

3

may

use

an

optical

scan

voting

system

only

.

The

requirements

4

of

the

federal

Help

America

Vote

Act,

Pub.

L.

No.

107-252,

116

5

Stat.

1666,

relating

to

disabled

voters

shall

may

be

met

by

a

6

county

through

the

use

of

electronic

ballot

marking

devices

7

that

are

compatible

with

an

optical

scan

voting

system.

8

EXPLANATION

9

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

10

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

11

This

bill

relates

to

the

use

of

automatic

tabulating

12

equipment

and

optical

scan

voting

systems

in

elections.

The

13

bill

strikes

provisions

requiring

the

use

of

optical

scan

14

voting

systems

in

all

elections

and

the

use

of

automatic

15

tabulating

equipment

in

certain

elections.

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