2009 Iowa Code
Title 2 - Elections and Official Duties
Subtitle 1 - Elections
CHAPTER 50 - CANVASS OF VOTES
50.48 - GENERAL RECOUNT PROVISIONS.

        50.48  GENERAL RECOUNT PROVISIONS.
         1. a.  The county board of canvassers shall order a recount of
      the votes cast for a particular office or nomination in one or more
      specified election precincts in that county if a written request
      therefor is made not later than 5:00 p.m. on the third day following
      the county board's canvass of the election in question.  The request
      shall be filed with the commissioner of that county, or with the
      commissioner responsible for conducting the election if section 47.2,
      subsection 2, is applicable, and shall be signed by either of the
      following:
         (1)  A candidate for that office or nomination whose name was
      printed on the ballot of the precinct or precincts where the recount
      is requested.
         (2)  Any other person who receives votes for that particular
      office or nomination in the precinct or precincts where the recount
      is requested and who is legally qualified to seek and to hold the
      office in question.
         b.  Immediately upon receipt of a request for a recount, the
      commissioner shall send a copy of the request to the apparent winner
      by certified mail.  The commissioner shall also attempt to contact
      the apparent winner by telephone.  If the apparent winner cannot be
      reached within four days, the chairperson of the political party or
      organization which nominated the apparent winner shall be contacted
      and shall act on behalf of the apparent winner, if necessary.  For
      candidates for state or federal offices, the chairperson of the state
      party shall be contacted.  For candidates for county offices, the
      county chairperson of the party shall be contacted.
         2. a.  The candidate requesting a recount under this section
      shall post a bond, unless the abstracts prepared pursuant to section
      50.24, or section 43.49 in the case of a primary election, indicate
      that the difference between the total number of votes cast for the
      apparent winner and the total number of votes cast for the candidate
      requesting the recount is less than the greater of fifty votes or one
      percent of the total number of votes cast for the office or
      nomination in question.  If a recount is requested for an office to
      which more than one person was elected, the vote difference
      calculations shall be made using the difference between the number of
      votes received by the person requesting the recount and the number of
      votes received by the apparent winner who received the fewest votes.
      Where votes cast for that office or nomination were canvassed in more
      than one county, the abstracts prepared by the county boards in all
      of those counties shall be totaled for purposes of this subsection.
      If a bond is required, it shall be filed with the state commissioner
      for recounts involving a state office, including a seat in the
      general assembly, or a seat in the United States Congress, and with
      the commissioner responsible for conducting the election in all other
      cases, and shall be in the following amount:
         (1)  For an office filled by the electors of the entire state, one
      thousand dollars.
         (2)  For United States representative, five hundred dollars.
         (3)  For senator in the general assembly, three hundred dollars.
         (4)  For representative in the general assembly, one hundred fifty
      dollars.
         (5)  For an office filled by the electors of an entire county
      having a population of fifty thousand or more, two hundred dollars.
         (6)  For any elective office to which subparagraphs (1) through
      (5) are not applicable, one hundred dollars.
         b.  After all recount proceedings for a particular office are
      completed and the official canvass of votes cast for that office is
      corrected or completed pursuant to subsections 5 and 6, if necessary,
      any bond posted under this subsection shall be returned to the
      candidate who requested the recount if the apparent winner before the
      recount is not the winner as shown by the corrected or completed
      canvass.  In all other cases, the bond shall be deposited in the
      general fund of the state if filed with the state commissioner or in
      the election fund of the county with whose commissioner it was filed.

         3. a.  The recount shall be conducted by a board which shall
      consist of:
         (1)  A designee of the candidate requesting the recount, who shall
      be named in the written request when it is filed.
         (2)  A designee of the apparent winning candidate, who shall be
      named by that candidate at or before the time the board is required
      to convene.
         (3)  A person chosen jointly by the members designated under
      subparagraphs (1) and (2).
         b.  The commissioner shall convene the persons designated
      under paragraph "a", subparagraphs (1) and (2), not later than
      9:00 a.m. on the seventh day following the county board's canvass of
      the election in question.  If those two members cannot agree on the
      third member by 8:00 a.m. on the ninth day following the canvass,
      they shall immediately so notify the chief judge of the judicial
      district in which the canvass is occurring, who shall appoint the
      third member not later than 5:00 p.m. on the eleventh day following
      the canvass.
         4. a.  When all members of the recount board have been
      selected, the board shall undertake and complete the required recount
      as expeditiously as reasonably possible.  The commissioner or the
      commissioner's designee shall supervise the handling of ballots to
      ensure that the ballots are protected from alteration or damage.  The
      board shall open only the sealed ballot containers from the precincts
      specified to be recounted in the request or by the recount board.
      The board shall recount only the ballots which were voted and counted
      for the office in question, including any disputed ballots returned
      as required in section 50.5.  If automatic tabulating equipment was
      used to count the ballots, the recount board may request the
      commissioner to retabulate the ballots using the automatic tabulating
      equipment.  The same program used for tabulating the votes on
      election day shall be used at the recount unless the program is
      believed or known to be flawed.
         b.  Any member of the recount board may at any time during the
      recount proceedings extend the recount of votes cast for the office
      or nomination in question to any other precinct or precincts in the
      same county, or from which the returns were reported to the
      commissioner responsible for conducting the election, without the
      necessity of posting additional bond.
         c.  The ballots shall be resealed by the recount board before
      adjournment and shall be preserved as required by section 50.12.  At
      the conclusion of the recount, the recount board shall make and file
      with the commissioner a written report of its findings, which shall
      be signed by at least two members of the recount board.  The recount
      board shall complete the recount and file its report not later than
      the eighteenth day following the county board's canvass of the
      election in question.
         5.  If the recount board's report is that the abstracts prepared
      pursuant to the county board's canvass were incorrect as to the
      number of votes cast for the candidates for the office or nomination
      in question, in that county or district, the commissioner shall at
      once so notify the county board.  The county board shall reconvene
      within three days after being so notified, and shall correct its
      previous proceedings.
         6.  The commissioner shall promptly notify the state commissioner
      of any recount of votes for an office to which section 50.30 or
      section 43.60 in the case of a primary election, is applicable.  If
      necessary, the state canvass required by section 50.38, or by section
      43.63, as the case may be, shall be delayed with respect to the
      office or the nomination to which the recount pertains.  The
      commissioner shall subsequently inform the state commissioner at the
      earliest possible time whether any change in the outcome of the
      election in that county or district resulted from the recount.
         7.  If the election is an election held by a city which is not the
      final election for the office in question, the recount shall progress
      according to the times provided by this subsection.  If this
      subsection applies the canvass shall be held by the second day after
      the election, the request for a recount must be made by the third day
      after the election, the board shall convene to conduct the recount by
      the sixth day after the election, and the report shall be filed by
      the eleventh day after the election.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [S13, § 1087-a18; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 584--586; C46, 50,
      54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 43.56--43.58; S81, § 50.48;
      81 Acts, ch 34, § 34] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         86 Acts, ch 1224, § 15, 16; 93 Acts, ch 143, § 24, 25; 94 Acts, ch
      1180, §19; 97 Acts, ch 170, § 58; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §47, 115; 2007
      Acts, ch 190, §3; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §153; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §44
         Referred to in § 43.56, 50.12, 50.49, 331.383