Bill Text: IA HF4 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the option of voting straight party.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-03 - Passed subcommittee. [HF4 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HF4-Introduced.html

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House File 4 - Introduced




                                 HOUSE FILE       
                                 BY  COWNIE

                                      A BILL FOR

  1 An Act relating to the option of voting straight party.
  2 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
    TLSB 1121YH (2) 86
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PAG LIN



  1  1    Section 1.  Section 49.37, subsection 1, Code 2015, is
  1  2 amended to read as follows:
  1  3    1.  For general elections, and for other elections in which
  1  4 more than one partisan office will be filled, the first section
  1  5 of the ballot shall be for straight party voting arranged as
  1  6 provided in this section.
  1  7    a.  Each political party or organization which has
  1  8 nominated candidates for more than one office shall be listed.
  1  9 Instructions to the voter for straight party or organization
  1 10 voting shall be in substantially the following form:
  1 11 To vote for all candidates from a single party or
  1 12 organization, mark the voting target next to the party or
  1 13 organization name. Not all parties or organizations have
  1 14 nominated candidates for all offices. Marking a straight party
  1 15 or organization vote does not include votes for nonpartisan
  1 16 offices, judges, or questions.
  1 17    b.  Political parties and nonparty political organizations
  1 18 which have nominated candidates for only one office shall
  1 19 be listed below the other political organizations under the
  1 20 following heading:
  1 21 Other Political Organizations. The following organizations
  1 22 have nominated candidates for only one office:
  1 23    c.  Offices shall be arranged in groups. Partisan offices,
  1 24 nonpartisan offices, judges, and public measures shall be
  1 25 separated by a distinct line appearing on the ballot.
  1 26    Sec. 2.  Section 49.37, Code 2015, is amended by adding the
  1 27 following new subsection:
  1 28    NEW SUBSECTION.  1A.  Offices shall be arranged in groups.
  1 29 Partisan offices, nonpartisan offices, judges, and public
  1 30 measures shall be separated by a distinct line appearing on the
  1 31 ballot.
  1 32    Sec. 3.  Section 49.57, subsection 2, Code 2015, is amended
  1 33 to read as follows:
  1 34    2.  In the area of the general election ballot for straight
  1 35 party voting, the party or organization names shall be printed
  2  1 in upper case and lower case letters using a uniform font size
  2  2 for each political party or nonparty political organization.
  2  3 The font size shall be not less than twelve point type. After
  2  4 the name of each candidate for a partisan office the name of
  2  5 the candidate's political party shall be printed in at least
  2  6 six point type. The names of political parties and nonparty
  2  7 political organizations may be abbreviated on the remainder of
  2  8 the ballot if both the full name and the abbreviation appear
  2  9 in the "Straight Party" and "Other Political Party" areas of
  2 10 the ballot.
  2 11    Sec. 4.  Section 49.98, Code 2015, is amended to read as
  2 12 follows:
  2 13    49.98  Counting ballots.
  2 14    The ballots shall be counted according to the voters' marks
  2 15 on them as provided in sections 49.92 to 49.97 and 49.93,
  2 16 and not otherwise. If, for any reason, it is impossible
  2 17 to determine from a ballot, as marked, the choice of the
  2 18 voter for any office, the vote for that office shall not be
  2 19 counted. When there is a conflict between a straight party or
  2 20 organization vote for one political party or nonparty political
  2 21 organization and the vote cast by marking the voting target
  2 22 next to the name of a candidate for another political party
  2 23 or nonparty political organization on the ballot, the mark
  2 24 next to the name of the candidate shall be held to control,
  2 25 and the straight party or organization vote in that case shall
  2 26 not apply as to that office. A ballot shall be rejected if
  2 27 the voter used a mark to identify the voter's ballot. For
  2 28 each voting system, the The state commissioner shall, by rule
  2 29 adopted pursuant to chapter 17A, develop uniform definitions of
  2 30 what constitutes a vote.
  2 31    Sec. 5.  REPEAL.  Sections 49.94, 49.95, 49.96, and 49.97,
  2 32 Code 2015, are repealed.
  2 33                           EXPLANATION
  2 34 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
  2 35 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly.
  3  1 This bill eliminates the option of voting straight party
  3  2 for all candidates of a political party or nonparty political
  3  3 organization.  The bill applies to the general election and
  3  4 elections at which more than one partisan office is to be
  3  5 filled.
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