Bill Text: IA HR21 | 2015-2016 | 86th General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: A resolution urging the United States Postal Service to ensure the postmarking of all absentee ballot materials mailed through the postal service.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 32-1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2015-03-23 - Resolution filed, laid over under Rule 25. H.J. 668. [HR21 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2015-HR21-Introduced.html

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House Resolution 21 - Introduced

PAG LIN




                    HOUSE RESOLUTION NO.    
            BY  GASKILL, OLSON, SMITH, HUNTER, STECKMAN,
            ABDUL=SAMAD, BERRY, KEARNS, OURTH, T. TAYLOR,
         ANDERSON, BEARINGER, FINKENAUER, H. MILLER, THEDE,
        HANSON, PRICHARD, STUTSMAN, MASCHER, LENSING, GAINES,
         COHOON, BROWN=POWERS, KELLEY, FORBES, STAED, WOLFE,
        HEDDENS, HALL, WINCKLER, GASSMAN, JACOBY, and DAWSON
  1  1 A Resolution urging the United States Postal Service
  1  2    to ensure the postmarking of all absentee ballot
  1  3    materials mailed through the postal service.
  1  4    WHEREAS, voting is a fundamental right protective
  1  5 of all other constitutionally guaranteed rights, and
  1  6 all levels of government must protect the fundamental
  1  7 constitutional right of every American to vote to
  1  8 ensure that the Constitution's promise is fully
  1  9 realized; and
  1 10    WHEREAS, the expansion of voting rights did not
  1 11 happen overnight, but was instead the product of a
  1 12 continued struggle by many people over many decades to
  1 13 expand the electorate to include individuals who did
  1 14 not own property, women, people of color, and young
  1 15 adults who had previously been denied participation in
  1 16 the electoral franchise; and
  1 17    WHEREAS, in the 2012 presidential election 679,118
  1 18 Iowans, totaling 43 percent of all Iowa voters, cast
  1 19 their votes by absentee ballot; and
  1 20    WHEREAS, in the 2014 gubernatorial election 469,185
  1 21 Iowans, totaling 41 percent of all Iowa voters, cast
  1 22 their votes by absentee ballot; and
  2  1 WHEREAS, county commissioners of elections in Iowa
  2  2 regularly receive hundreds of absentee ballots through
  2  3 the United States Postal Service during each regular
  2  4 school, regular city, primary, and general election in
  2  5 return envelopes that are not postmarked by the United
  2  6 States Postal Service; and
  2  7    WHEREAS, on October 30, 2014, Senator Chuck Grassley
  2  8 (R=IA) and Senator Tom Harkin (D=IA) cosigned a letter
  2  9 to United States Postal Service district managers
  2 10 to "respectfully request that [the Postal Service]
  2 11 instruct your staff across the states to take the
  2 12 actions necessary to ensure that every ballot is
  2 13 postmarked and thus ensure that every Iowa vote that is
  2 14 properly cast can also be properly counted"; and
  2 15    WHEREAS, despite repeated requests by Iowa's state
  2 16 and federal elected officials to seek administrative
  2 17 solutions to provide for the postmarking of every Iowa
  2 18 absentee ballot, such requests have not resulted in
  2 19 uniform compliance across Iowa's 99 counties; and
  2 20    WHEREAS, postal service has been a vital buttress of
  2 21 American democracy since our country's founding when
  2 22 Benjamin Franklin served under the Continental Congress
  2 23 as the first United States Postmaster General; NOW
  2 24 THEREFORE,
  2 25    BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE, That the House of
  2 26 Representatives joins United States Senator Chuck
  2 27 Grassley and Former United States Senator Tom Harkin in
  2 28 respectfully requesting that the United States Postal
  2 29 Service instruct all its staff to take the actions
  2 30 necessary to ensure that every ballot returned through
  3  1 the United States Postal Service for every election in
  3  2 this state is postmarked, thereby ensuring that each
  3  3 Iowa vote that is properly cast can also be properly
  3  4 counted; and
  3  5    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the House of
  3  6 Representatives respectfully requests that the
  3  7 Secretary of State consult with the Postmaster General
  3  8 of the United States, the District Manager of the
  3  9 Hawkeye District of the United States Postal Service,
  3 10 and the District Manager of the Central Plains District
  3 11 of the United States Postal Service to search for
  3 12 administrative solutions to ensure that every ballot
  3 13 returned through the United States Postal Service
  3 14 can be and is postmarked by the United States Postal
  3 15 Service; and
  3 16    BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That the Chief Clerk of
  3 17 the House of Representatives shall transmit certified
  3 18 copies of this Resolution to each member of the Iowa
  3 19 congressional delegation, the United States Postmaster
  3 20 General, the District Manager of the Hawkeye District
  3 21 of the United States Postal Service, and the District
  3 22 Manager of the Central Plains District of the United
  3 23 States Postal Service.
       LSB 2614YH (3) 86
       aw/sc