Bill Text: IA HF186 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the option of voting straight party at certain elections. (Formerly HF 13)
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-12-31 - END OF 2013 ACTIONS [HF186 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2013-HF186-Introduced.html
House
File
186
-
Introduced
HOUSE
FILE
186
BY
COMMITTEE
ON
STATE
GOVERNMENT
(SUCCESSOR
TO
HF
13)
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
option
of
voting
straight
party
at
1
certain
elections.
2
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
3
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186
Section
1.
Section
49.37,
subsection
1,
Code
2013,
is
1
amended
to
read
as
follows:
2
1.
For
general
elections,
and
for
other
elections
in
which
3
more
than
one
partisan
office
will
be
filled,
the
first
section
4
of
the
ballot
shall
be
for
straight
party
voting
arranged
as
5
provided
in
this
section
.
6
a.
Each
political
party
or
organization
which
has
7
nominated
candidates
for
more
than
one
office
shall
be
listed.
8
Instructions
to
the
voter
for
straight
party
or
organization
9
voting
shall
be
in
substantially
the
following
form:
10
To
vote
for
all
candidates
from
a
single
party
or
11
organization,
mark
the
voting
target
next
to
the
party
or
12
organization
name.
Not
all
parties
or
organizations
have
13
nominated
candidates
for
all
offices.
Marking
a
straight
party
14
or
organization
vote
does
not
include
votes
for
nonpartisan
15
offices,
judges,
or
questions.
16
b.
Political
parties
and
nonparty
political
organizations
17
which
have
nominated
candidates
for
only
one
office
shall
18
be
listed
below
the
other
political
organizations
under
the
19
following
heading:
20
Other
Political
Organizations.
The
following
organizations
21
have
nominated
candidates
for
only
one
office:
22
c.
1A.
Offices
shall
be
arranged
in
groups.
Partisan
23
offices,
nonpartisan
offices,
judges,
and
public
measures
shall
24
be
separated
by
a
distinct
line
appearing
on
the
ballot.
25
Sec.
2.
Section
49.57,
subsection
2,
Code
2013,
is
amended
26
to
read
as
follows:
27
2.
In
the
area
of
the
general
election
ballot
for
straight
28
party
voting,
the
party
or
organization
names
shall
be
printed
29
in
upper
case
and
lower
case
letters
using
a
uniform
font
size
30
for
each
political
party
or
nonparty
political
organization.
31
The
font
size
shall
be
not
less
than
twelve
point
type.
After
32
the
name
of
each
candidate
for
a
partisan
office
the
name
of
33
the
candidate’s
political
party
shall
be
printed
in
at
least
34
six
point
type.
The
names
of
political
parties
and
nonparty
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186
political
organizations
may
be
abbreviated
on
the
remainder
of
1
the
ballot
if
both
the
full
name
and
the
abbreviation
appear
2
in
the
“Straight
Party”
and
“Other
Political
Party”
areas
of
3
the
ballot.
4
Sec.
3.
Section
49.98,
Code
2013,
is
amended
to
read
as
5
follows:
6
49.98
Counting
ballots.
7
The
ballots
shall
be
counted
according
to
the
voters’
marks
8
on
them
as
provided
in
sections
49.92
to
49.97
and
49.93
,
9
and
not
otherwise.
If,
for
any
reason,
it
is
impossible
10
to
determine
from
a
ballot,
as
marked,
the
choice
of
the
11
voter
for
any
office,
the
vote
for
that
office
shall
not
be
12
counted.
When
there
is
a
conflict
between
a
straight
party
or
13
organization
vote
for
one
political
party
or
nonparty
political
14
organization
and
the
vote
cast
by
marking
the
voting
target
15
next
to
the
name
of
a
candidate
for
another
political
party
16
or
nonparty
political
organization
on
the
ballot,
the
mark
17
next
to
the
name
of
the
candidate
shall
be
held
to
control,
18
and
the
straight
party
or
organization
vote
in
that
case
shall
19
not
apply
as
to
that
office.
A
ballot
shall
be
rejected
if
20
the
voter
used
a
mark
to
identify
the
voter’s
ballot.
For
21
each
voting
system,
the
The
state
commissioner
shall,
by
rule
22
adopted
pursuant
to
chapter
17A
,
develop
uniform
definitions
of
23
what
constitutes
a
vote.
24
Sec.
4.
Section
52.26,
subsection
1,
paragraph
f,
Code
2013,
25
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
26
f.
Be
so
constructed
or
designed
as
to
permit
voting
27
for
candidates
for
nomination
or
election
of
at
least
seven
28
different
political
parties
or
organizations
,
and
to
permit
29
voting
for
all
of
the
candidates
of
any
one
political
party
or
30
organization
by
a
single
mark,
at
any
one
election
.
31
Sec.
5.
REPEAL.
Sections
49.94,
49.95,
49.96,
and
49.97,
32
Code
2013,
are
repealed.
33
EXPLANATION
34
This
bill
eliminates
the
option
of
voting
straight
party
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