Bill Text: IA HF167 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to voter registration and voting by lowering the age at which a person may register to vote and the age at which a registered voter is eligible to vote in a primary election and including effective date provisions.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-22 - Passed subcommittee. [HF167 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2017-HF167-Introduced.html

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House File 167 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  HIGHFILL

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to voter registration and voting by lowering
  2    the age at which a person may register to vote and the age
  3    at which a registered voter is eligible to vote in a primary
  4    election and including effective date provisions.
  5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1424YH (6) 87
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 48A.5, subsection 2, paragraph c, Code
  1  2 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  1  3    c.  (1)  Be at least eighteen years of age.  However,
  1  4 for purposes of voting in the primary election, an eligible
  1  5 elector shall be at least eighteen years of age on the date of
  1  6 the respective general election or city election. Completed
  1  7 registration forms shall be accepted from registrants who are
  1  8 at least seventeen and one=half years of age; however,. For
  1  9 an election other than a primary election, the registration
  1 10 shall not be effective until the registrant reaches the age
  1 11 of eighteen. The commissioner of registration shall ensure
  1 12 that the birth date shown on the registration form is at
  1 13 least seventeen and one=half years earlier than the date the
  1 14 registration is processed.
  1 15    (2)  A registrant who is at least seventeen and one=half
  1 16  years of age and who will be eighteen by the date of a pending
  1 17 election is a registered voter for the pending election for
  1 18 purposes of chapter 53.  For purposes of voting in a primary
  1 19 election under chapter 43, a registrant who will be at least
  1 20 eighteen years of age by the date of the respective general
  1 21 election or city election is a registered voter for the pending
  1 22 primary election.
  1 23    Sec. 2.  Section 48A.11, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
  1 24 to read as follows:
  1 25    3.  The following questions and statement regarding
  1 26 eligibility shall be included on forms that may be used for
  1 27 registration by mail:
  1 28 [1]  "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?"
  1 29 [2]  "Will you be eighteen years of age on or before election
  1 30 day?"
  1 31 [3]  "If you checked 'no' in response to either of these
  1 32 questions, do not complete this form." form. However, for
  1 33 purposes of voting in a primary election, you may complete this
  1 34 form if you are a citizen of the United States of America and
  1 35 you will be at least eighteen years of age on the date of the
  2  1 general election."
  2  2    Sec. 3.  Section 48A.14, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code
  2  3 2017, is amended to read as follows:
  2  4    b.  The challenged registrant is less than seventeen and
  2  5 one=half years of age.
  2  6    Sec. 4.  Section 48A.23, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended
  2  7 to read as follows:
  2  8    1.  At least twice during each school year, the board of
  2  9 directors of each school district operating a high school and
  2 10 the authorities in charge of each accredited nonpublic school
  2 11 shall offer the opportunity to register to vote to each student
  2 12 who is at least seventeen and one=half years of age.
  2 13    Sec. 5.  Section 48A.26, subsection 9, Code 2017, is amended
  2 14 to read as follows:
  2 15    9.  When a person who is at least seventeen and one=half
  2 16  years of age but less than eighteen years of age registers
  2 17 to vote, the commissioner shall maintain a record of the
  2 18 registration so as to clearly indicate that it will not take
  2 19 effect until the registrant's eighteenth birthday and that the
  2 20 person is registered and qualifies to vote at any election
  2 21 held on or after that date.  However, the commissioner shall
  2 22 indicate that the person is registered and qualifies to vote
  2 23 at the pending primary election if the person will be at least
  2 24 eighteen years of age on the date of the respective general
  2 25 election or city election.
  2 26    Sec. 6.  Section 48A.31, Code 2017, is amended to read as
  2 27 follows:
  2 28    48A.31  Deceased persons record.
  2 29    The state registrar of vital statistics shall transmit
  2 30 or cause to be transmitted to the state registrar of voters,
  2 31 once each calendar quarter, a certified list of all persons
  2 32 seventeen and one=half years of age and older in the state
  2 33 whose deaths have been reported to the bureau of vital records
  2 34 of the Iowa department of public health since the previous list
  2 35 of decedents was certified to the state registrar of voters.
  3  1 The list shall be submitted according to the specifications
  3  2 of the state registrar of voters. The commissioner shall, in
  3  3 the month following the end of a calendar quarter, run the
  3  4 statewide voter registration system's matching program to
  3  5 determine whether a listed decedent was registered to vote in
  3  6 the county and shall immediately cancel the registration of any
  3  7 person named on the list of decedents.
  3  8    Sec. 7.  Section 49.79, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2017,
  3  9 is amended to read as follows:
  3 10    b.  The For an election other than a primary election, the
  3 11  challenged person is less than eighteen years of age as of the
  3 12 date of the election at which the person is offering to vote.
  3 13 For a primary election, the challenged person will be less than
  3 14 eighteen years of age on the date of the respective general
  3 15 election or city election.
  3 16    Sec. 8.  Section 49.81, subsection 4, paragraph a, Code 2017,
  3 17 is amended to read as follows:
  3 18    a.  (1)  The individual envelopes used for each provisional
  3 19 ballot cast pursuant to subsection 1 shall have space for the
  3 20 voter's name, date of birth, and address and shall have printed
  3 21 on them the following:
  3 22 I am a United States citizen, at least eighteen years of
  3 23 age or, for purposes of voting in a primary election, I
  3 24 will be at least eighteen years of age on the date of the
  3 25 respective general election or city election. I believe I am
  3 26 a registered voter of this county and I am eligible to vote in
  3 27 this election.
  3 28 .............
  3 29 (signature of voter) (date)
  3 30    (2)  The following information is to be provided by the
  3 31 precinct election official:
  3 32 Reason for casting provisional ballot:
  3 33 .................
  3 34 .................
  3 35 ...........
  4  1 (signature of precinct
  4  2                     election official)
  4  3    Sec. 9.  Section 280.9A, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended
  4  4 to read as follows:
  4  5    3.  At least twice during each school year, the board of
  4  6 directors of each local public school district operating a
  4  7 high school and the authorities in charge of each accredited
  4  8 nonpublic school operating a high school shall offer the
  4  9 opportunity to register to vote to each student who is at least
  4 10 seventeen and one=half years of age, as required by section
  4 11 48A.23.
  4 12    Sec. 10.  Section 602.8102, subsection 15, Code 2017, is
  4 13 amended to read as follows:
  4 14    15.  Monthly, notify the county commissioner of registration
  4 15 and the state registrar of voters of persons seventeen and
  4 16 one=half years of age and older who have been convicted of a
  4 17 felony during the preceding calendar month or persons who at
  4 18 any time during the preceding calendar month have been legally
  4 19 declared to be a person who is incompetent to vote as that term
  4 20 is defined in section 48A.2.
  4 21    Sec. 11.  EFFECTIVE DATE.  This Act takes effect January 1,
  4 22 2018.
  4 23                           EXPLANATION
  4 24 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  4 25 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  4 26    This bill relates to voter registration and voting.
  4 27    Current law allows an eligible elector who is at least 17
  4 28 and one=half years of age to register to vote, but, except
  4 29 for purposes of requesting and voting an absentee ballot, the
  4 30 registration does not become effective until the registrant
  4 31 turns 18 years of age. The bill allows an otherwise eligible
  4 32 elector to register to vote at the age of 17.
  4 33    The bill also allows a registered voter who is not 18 years
  4 34 of age to vote in a primary election if the voter will be at
  4 35 least 18 years of age on the date of the respective general
  5  1 election or city election.
  5  2    The bill makes additional conforming changes.
  5  3    The bill takes effect January 1, 2018.
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