2009 Iowa Code
Title 2 - Elections and Official Duties
Subtitle 1 - Elections
CHAPTER 49 - METHOD OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS
49.3 - ELECTION PRECINCTS.

        49.3  ELECTION PRECINCTS.
         Election precincts shall be drawn by the county board of
      supervisors or the temporary county redistricting commission in all
      unincorporated portions of each county, and by the city council of
      each city in which it is necessary or deemed advisable to establish
      more than one precinct.  Precincts established as provided by this
      chapter shall be used for all elections, except where temporary
      merger of established precincts is specifically permitted by law for
      certain elections, and no political subdivision shall concurrently
      maintain different sets of precincts for use in different types of
      elections.  Election precincts shall be drawn so that:
         1.  No precinct shall have a total population in excess of three
      thousand five hundred, as shown by the most recent federal decennial
      census.
         2.  Each precinct is contained wholly within an existing
      legislative district, except:
         a.  When adherence to this requirement would force creation of
      a precinct which includes the places of residence of fewer than fifty
      registered voters.
         b.  When the general assembly by resolution designates a
      period after the federal decennial census is taken and before the
      next succeeding reapportionment of legislative districts required by
      Article III, section 35 of the Constitution of the State of Iowa as
      amended in 1968, during which precincts may be drawn without regard
      to the boundaries of existing legislative districts.
         3.  Except as provided in section 49.4, subsection 3, precincts
      established after July 1, 1994, shall be composed of contiguous
      territory within a single county.  The boundaries of all precincts
      shall follow the boundaries of areas for which official population
      figures are available from the most recent federal decennial census.

         4.  All election districts, including city wards and county
      supervisor districts, shall be drawn according to the following
      standards:
         a.  All boundaries, except for supervisor districts for
      counties using supervisor representation plan "two" pursuant to
      section 331.209, shall follow precinct boundaries.
         b.  All districts shall be as nearly equal as practicable to
      the ideal population for the districts as determined by dividing the
      number of districts to be established into the population of the city
      or county.
         c.  All districts shall be composed of contiguous territory as
      compact as practicable.
         d.  Consideration shall not be given to the addresses of
      incumbent officeholders, political affiliations of registered voters,
      previous election results, or demographic information other than
      population head counts, except as required by the Constitution and
      the laws of the United States.
         e.  Cities shall not be divided into two or more county
      supervisor districts unless the population of the city is greater
      than the ideal size of a district.  Cities shall be divided into the
      smallest number of county supervisor districts possible.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C51, § 245; R60, § 480; C73, § 501, 605; C97, § 1090; S13, §
      1090; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 721, 722, 723; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62,
      66, 71, 73, § 49.3, 49.4, 49.5; C75, 77, 79, 81, § 49.3] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         94 Acts, ch 1179, §4, 5; 95 Acts, ch 67, §53; 99 Acts, ch 17, §1;
      2006 Acts, ch 1010, §37
         Referred to in § 49.5, 49.6, 49.7, 49.8, 49.11, 273.8, 277.6,
      331.210A, 331.383