Bill Text: IA SSB3191 | 2017-2018 | 87th General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to the conduct of election activities, including the sending of certain electronic messages, ballot arrangement for certain partisan offices, and imposing penalties.
Spectrum: Committee Bill
Status: (N/A - Dead) 2018-02-15 - Subcommittee recommends passage. [SSB3191 Detail]
Download: Iowa-2017-SSB3191-Introduced.html
Senate
Study
Bill
3191
-
Introduced
SENATE
FILE
_____
BY
(PROPOSED
COMMITTEE
ON
STATE
GOVERNMENT
BILL
BY
CHAIRPERSON
SMITH)
A
BILL
FOR
An
Act
relating
to
the
conduct
of
election
activities,
1
including
the
sending
of
certain
electronic
messages,
ballot
2
arrangement
for
certain
partisan
offices,
and
imposing
3
penalties.
4
BE
IT
ENACTED
BY
THE
GENERAL
ASSEMBLY
OF
THE
STATE
OF
IOWA:
5
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DIVISION
I
1
ELECTRONIC
MESSAGES
2
Section
1.
NEW
SECTION
.
39A.5A
Certain
electronic
messages
3
prohibited.
4
1.
For
the
purposes
of
this
section:
5
a.
“Text
or
media
message”
means
a
message
that
contains
6
written,
audio,
video,
or
photographic
content
and
is
sent
7
electronically
to
a
cellular
telephone
or
mobile
electronic
8
device
telephone
number,
but
does
not
include
electronic
mail
9
sent
to
an
electronic
mail
address.
10
b.
“Unsolicited
political
advertisement”
means
a
text
11
or
media
message
sent
without
the
prior
permission
of
the
12
recipient
that
includes
express
advocacy
as
defined
in
section
13
68A.102.
14
2.
A
person
shall
not
send
or
cause
to
be
sent
to
a
resident
15
of
this
state
an
unsolicited
political
advertisement.
16
3.
A
person
shall
not
send
or
cause
to
be
sent
to
a
17
resident
of
this
state
a
text
or
media
message
containing
an
18
unsolicited
political
advertisement
without
first
receiving
19
prior
permission
from
the
intended
recipient
which
permission
20
includes
the
telephone
number
to
which
the
text
or
media
21
message
may
be
sent.
The
permission
shall
be
revocable
at
any
22
time
by
submission
of
a
request
that
includes
the
telephone
23
number
for
which
permission
is
being
revoked.
24
4.
A
person
who
violates
this
section
shall
be
subject
to
25
a
civil
penalty
of
fifty
dollars
for
each
telephone
number
to
26
which
an
unsolicited
political
advertisement
is
sent,
up
to
a
27
maximum
of
five
thousand
dollars.
Any
penalties
collected
by
28
the
secretary
of
state
shall
be
forwarded
to
the
treasurer
of
29
state
and
deposited
in
the
general
fund
of
the
state.
30
DIVISION
II
31
BALLOT
ORDER
OF
CANDIDATES
32
Sec.
2.
Section
49.31,
subsection
1,
Code
2018,
is
amended
33
to
read
as
follows:
34
1.
a.
All
ballots
shall
be
arranged
with
the
names
of
35
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candidates
for
each
office
listed
below
the
office
title.
1
For
partisan
elections
the
name
of
the
political
party
or
2
organization
which
nominated
each
candidate
shall
be
listed
3
after
or
below
each
candidate’s
name.
4
b.
(1)
The
commissioner
shall
determine
the
order
of
5
political
parties
and
nonparty
political
organizations
6
candidates
on
the
ballot
as
provided
in
paragraph
“b”
.
The
7
sequence
order
shall
be
the
same
for
each
office
on
the
8
ballot
and
for
each
precinct
in
the
county
voting
in
the
9
election.
The
commissioner
shall
arrange
the
ballot
so
that
10
the
candidates
of
each
political
party,
as
defined
in
section
11
43.2,
for
each
partisan
office
appearing
on
the
ballot
shall
12
appear
in
descending
order
so
that
the
candidates
of
the
13
political
party
whose
registered
voters
voted
in
the
greatest
14
number
in
the
commissioner’s
county
at
the
preceding
election
15
described
in
section
39.9
shall
appear
first
on
the
ballot,
and
16
the
candidates
of
the
political
party
whose
registered
voters
17
voted
in
the
next
greatest
number
in
the
commissioner’s
county
18
at
such
election
appear
next
on
the
ballot,
and
continuing
in
19
descending
order
in
the
same
manner.
20
(2)
The
commissioner
shall
determine
the
number
of
21
registered
voters
from
each
political
party
who
voted
at
each
22
election
described
in
section
39.9
after
the
state
registrar
23
has
updated
information
on
participation
pursuant
to
section
24
48A.38,
subsection
2,
following
such
an
election.
25
(3)
If
the
number
of
registered
voters
from
two
or
more
26
political
parties
voted
in
the
same
number
in
the
county,
the
27
commissioner
shall
determine
the
order
of
arranging
political
28
party
candidates
for
those
political
parties
based
upon
the
29
numbers
of
registered
voters
who
voted
in
the
most
recent
30
election
described
in
section
39.9,
for
which
the
number
of
31
registered
voters
from
those
political
parties
who
voted
in
32
such
an
election,
were
different.
33
c.
The
commissioner
shall
determine
the
order
of
candidates
34
of
nonparty
political
organizations
on
the
ballot.
The
order
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shall
be
the
same
for
each
office
on
the
ballot
and
for
each
1
precinct
in
the
county
voting
in
the
election.
2
Sec.
3.
Section
49.31,
subsection
2,
paragraph
b,
Code
2018,
3
is
amended
to
read
as
follows:
4
b.
The
Notwithstanding
any
provision
of
subsection
1,
5
paragraph
“b”
,
to
the
contrary,
the
commissioner
shall
then
6
arrange
the
surnames
of
each
political
party’s
candidates
for
7
each
office
to
which
two
or
more
persons
are
to
be
elected
at
8
large
alphabetically
for
the
respective
offices
for
the
first
9
precinct
on
the
list;
thereafter,
for
each
political
party
and
10
for
each
succeeding
precinct,
the
names
appearing
first
for
11
the
respective
offices
in
the
last
preceding
precinct
shall
12
be
placed
last,
so
that
the
names
that
were
second
before
the
13
change
shall
be
first
after
the
change.
The
commissioner
may
14
also
rotate
the
names
of
candidates
of
a
political
party
in
the
15
reverse
order
of
that
provided
in
this
subsection
or
alternate
16
the
rotation
so
that
the
candidates
of
different
parties
shall
17
not
be
paired
as
they
proceed
through
the
rotation.
The
18
procedure
for
arrangement
of
names
on
ballots
provided
in
this
19
section
shall
likewise
be
substantially
followed
in
elections
20
in
political
subdivisions
of
less
than
a
county.
21
EXPLANATION
22
The
inclusion
of
this
explanation
does
not
constitute
agreement
with
23
the
explanation’s
substance
by
the
members
of
the
general
assembly.
24
This
bill
relates
to
the
administration
and
conduct
of
25
election
activities.
26
Division
I
of
the
bill
prohibits
persons
from
sending
27
unsolicited
political
advertisements
using
text
or
multimedia
28
messages
to
mobile
electronic
devices.
The
bill
requires
any
29
person
sending
an
unsolicited
political
advertisement
to
first
30
receive
permission
from
the
intended
recipient.
Any
person
who
31
sends
unsolicited
political
advertisements
without
receiving
32
permission
is
liable
for
a
civil
penalty
of
$50
for
each
33
telephone
number
contacted
without
first
receiving
permission,
34
up
to
a
total
of
$5,000.
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Division
II
of
the
bill
relates
to
the
arrangement
of
1
election
ballots
for
certain
partisan
offices.
Under
the
bill,
2
a
county
commissioner
of
elections
is
required
to
arrange
3
the
ballot
so
that
the
candidates
of
each
political
party
4
for
most
partisan
offices
appearing
on
the
ballot
appear
in
5
descending
order
so
that
the
candidates
of
the
political
party
6
whose
registered
voters
voted
in
the
greatest
number
in
the
7
commissioner’s
county
at
the
preceding
gubernatorial
election
8
appear
first
on
the
ballot,
and
the
candidates
of
the
political
9
party
whose
registered
voters
voted
in
the
next
greatest
number
10
in
the
commissioner’s
county
at
such
an
election
appear
next
11
on
the
ballot,
and
continuing
in
descending
order
in
the
same
12
manner.
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