Bill Text: IA HF56 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act lowering the age at which a person may register to vote and including effective date provisions.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2017-02-14 - Passed subcommittee. [HF56 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2017-HF56-Introduced.html
House File 56 - Introduced HOUSE FILE BY NUNN A BILL FOR 1 An Act lowering the age at which a person may register to vote 2 and including effective date provisions. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: TLSB 1895YH (3) 87 aw/sc 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. Completed 1 4 registration forms shall be accepted from registrants who are 1 5 at leastseventeen and one=halfsixteen years of age; however, 1 6 the registration shall not be effective until the registrant 1 7 reaches the age of eighteen. The commissioner of registration 1 8 shall ensure that the birth date shown on the registration form 1 9 is at leastseventeen and one=halfsixteen years earlier than 1 10 the date the registration is processed. 1 11 (2) A registrant whois at least seventeen and one=half 1 12 years of age and whowill be eighteen by the date of a pending 1 13 election is a registered voter for the pending election for 1 14 purposes of chapter 53. 1 15 Sec. 2. Section 48A.11, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended 1 16 to read as follows: 1 17 3. The following questions and statement regarding 1 18 eligibility shall be included on forms that may be used for 1 19 registration by mail: 1 20 [1] "Are you a citizen of the United States of America?" 1 21 [2]"Will you be eighteen"Are you at least sixteen years of 1 22age on or before election day?"age?" 1 23 [3] "If you checked 'no' in response to either of these 1 24 questions, do not complete this form." 1 25 Sec. 3. Section 48A.14, subsection 1, paragraph b, Code 1 26 2017, is amended to read as follows: 1 27 b. The challenged registrant is less thanseventeen and 1 28 one=halfsixteen years of age. 1 29 Sec. 4. Section 48A.23, subsection 1, Code 2017, is amended 1 30 to read as follows: 1 31 1. At least twice during each school year, the board of 1 32 directors of each school district operating a high school and 1 33 the authorities in charge of each accredited nonpublic school 1 34 shall offer the opportunity to register to vote to each student 1 35 who is at leastseventeen and one=halfsixteen years of age. 2 1 Sec. 5. Section 48A.26, subsection 9, Code 2017, is amended 2 2 to read as follows: 2 3 9. When a person who is at leastseventeen and one=half 2 4sixteen years of age but less than eighteen years of age 2 5 registers to vote, the commissioner shall maintain a record of 2 6 the registration so as to clearly indicate that it will not 2 7 take effect until the registrant's eighteenth birthday and that 2 8 the person is registered and qualifies to vote at any election 2 9 held on or after that date. 2 10 Sec. 6. Section 48A.31, Code 2017, is amended to read as 2 11 follows: 2 12 48A.31 Deceased persons record. 2 13 The state registrar of vital statistics shall transmit 2 14 or cause to be transmitted to the state registrar of voters, 2 15 once each calendar quarter, a certified list of all persons 2 16seventeen and one=halfsixteen years of age and older in 2 17 the state whose deaths have been reported to the bureau of 2 18 vital records of the Iowa department of public health since 2 19 the previous list of decedents was certified to the state 2 20 registrar of voters. The list shall be submitted according 2 21 to the specifications of the state registrar of voters. The 2 22 commissioner shall, in the month following the end of a 2 23 calendar quarter, run the statewide voter registration system's 2 24 matching program to determine whether a listed decedent was 2 25 registered to vote in the county and shall immediately cancel 2 26 the registration of any person named on the list of decedents. 2 27 Sec. 7. Section 280.9A, subsection 3, Code 2017, is amended 2 28 to read as follows: 2 29 3. At least twice during each school year, the board of 2 30 directors of each local public school district operating a 2 31 high school and the authorities in charge of each accredited 2 32 nonpublic school operating a high school shall offer the 2 33 opportunity to register to vote to each student who is at least 2 34seventeen and one=halfsixteen years of age, as required by 2 35 section 48A.23. 3 1 Sec. 8. Section 602.8102, subsection 15, Code 2017, is 3 2 amended to read as follows: 3 3 15. Monthly, notify the county commissioner of registration 3 4 and the state registrar of voters of personsseventeen and 3 5 one=halfsixteen years of age and older who have been convicted 3 6 of a felony during the preceding calendar month or persons 3 7 who at any time during the preceding calendar month have been 3 8 legally declared to be a person who is incompetent to vote as 3 9 that term is defined in section 48A.2. 3 10 Sec. 9. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect January 1, 3 11 2018. 3 12 EXPLANATION 3 13 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 3 14 the explanation's substance by the members of the general assembly. 3 15 This bill relates to voter registration and voting. 3 16 Current law allows an eligible elector who is at least 17 and 3 17 one=half years of age to register to vote. The bill allows an 3 18 otherwise eligible elector to register to vote at the age of 3 19 16. The bill makes additional conforming changes. 3 20 The bill takes effect January 1, 2018. LSB 1895YH (3) 87 aw/sc
