2009 Iowa Code
Title 2 - Elections and Official Duties
Subtitle 1 - Elections
CHAPTER 53 - ABSENT VOTERS
53.2 - APPLICATION FOR BALLOT.

        53.2  APPLICATION FOR BALLOT.
         1. a.  Any registered voter, under the circumstances specified
      in section 53.1, may on any day, except election day, and not more
      than seventy days prior to the date of the election, apply in person
      for an absentee ballot at the commissioner's office or at any
      location designated by the commissioner.  However, for those
      elections in which the commissioner directs the polls be opened at
      noon pursuant to section 49.73, a voter may apply in person for an
      absentee ballot at the commissioner's office from 8:00 a.m. until
      11:00 a.m. on election day.
         b.  A registered voter may make written application to the
      commissioner for an absentee ballot.  A written application for an
      absentee ballot must be received by the commissioner no later than
      5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election.  A written application
      for an absentee ballot delivered to the commissioner and received by
      the commissioner more than seventy days prior to the date of the
      election shall be retained by the commissioner and processed in the
      same manner as a written application received not more than seventy
      days before the date of the election.
         2. a.  The state commissioner shall prescribe a form for
      absentee ballot applications.  However, if a registered voter submits
      an application on a sheet of paper no smaller than three by five
      inches in size that includes all of the information required in this
      section, the prescribed form is not required.
         b.  Absentee ballot applications may include instructions to
      send the application directly to the county commissioner of
      elections.  However, no absentee ballot application shall be
      preaddressed or printed with instructions to send the applications to
      anyone other than the appropriate commissioner.
         c.  No absentee ballot application shall be preaddressed or
      printed with instructions to send the ballot to anyone other than the
      voter.
         3.  This section does not require that a written communication
      mailed to the commissioner's office to request an absentee ballot, or
      any other document be notarized as a prerequisite to receiving or
      marking an absentee ballot or returning to the commissioner an
      absentee ballot which has been voted.
         4.  Each application shall contain the name and signature of the
      registered voter, the registered voter's date of birth, the address
      at which the voter is registered to vote, and the name or date of the
      election for which the absentee ballot is requested, and such other
      information as may be necessary to determine the correct absentee
      ballot for the registered voter.  If insufficient information has
      been provided, either on the prescribed form or on an application
      created by the applicant, the commissioner shall, by the best means
      available, obtain the additional necessary information.
         5.  An application for a primary election ballot which specifies a
      party different from that recorded on the registered voter's voter
      registration record, or if the voter's voter registration record does
      not indicate a party affiliation, shall be accepted as a change or
      declaration of party affiliation.  The commissioner shall approve the
      change or declaration and enter a notation of the change on the
      registration records at the time the absentee ballot request is noted
      on the voter's registration record.  A notice shall be sent with the
      ballot requested informing the voter that the voter's registration
      record will be changed to show that the voter is now affiliated with
      the party whose ballot the voter requested.  If an application for a
      primary election ballot does not specify a party and the voter
      registration record of the voter from whom the application is
      received shows that the voter is affiliated with a party, the voter
      shall be mailed the ballot of the party indicated on the voter's
      registration record.
         6.  If an application for an absentee ballot is received from an
      eligible elector who is not a registered voter the commissioner shall
      send the eligible elector a voter registration form and another
      absentee ballot application form.  If the application is received
      after the time registration closes pursuant to section 48A.9 but by
      5:00 p.m. on the Saturday before the election for general and primary
      elections or by 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election for all
      other elections, the commissioner shall notify the applicant by mail
      of the election day and in-person absentee registration provisions of
      section 48A.7A.  In addition to notification by mail, the
      commissioner shall also attempt to contact the applicant by any other
      method available to the commissioner.
         7.  A registered voter who has not moved from the county in which
      the elector is registered to vote may submit a change of name,
      telephone number, or address on the absentee ballot application form
      when requesting an absentee ballot.  Upon receipt of a properly
      completed form, the commissioner shall enter a notation of the change
      on the registration records.
         8.  An application for an absentee ballot that is returned to the
      commissioner by a person acting as an actual or implied agent for a
      political party, candidate, or committee, all as defined by chapter
      68A, shall be returned to the commissioner within seventy-two hours
      of the time the completed application was received from the applicant
      or no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Friday before the election,
      whichever is earlier.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [SS15, § 1137-c, -d; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 928, 930; C46, 50,
      54, 58, 62, 66, 71, § 53.2, 53.4; C73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 53.2] 

         Section History: Recent Form

         83 Acts, ch 176, § 6; 84 Acts, ch 1291, § 11; 86 Acts, ch 1224, §
      28; 87 Acts, ch 221, § 25; 91 Acts, ch 129, §17; 94 Acts, ch 1169,
      §54; 95 Acts, ch 189, §15; 97 Acts, ch 170, § 68; 2004 Acts, ch 1083,
      §28, 29, 37; 2007 Acts, ch 59, §23, 38; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §157;
      2008 Acts, ch 1053, §1, 2; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §61
         Referred to in § 53.18, 53.22, 53.39, 53.45, 53.49