2009 Iowa Code
Title 2 - Elections and Official Duties
Subtitle 1 - Elections
CHAPTER 53 - ABSENT VOTERS
53.22 - BALLOTING BY CONFINED PERSONS.

        53.22  BALLOTING BY CONFINED PERSONS.
         1. a. (1)  A registered voter who has applied for an absentee
      ballot, in a manner other than that prescribed by section 53.10 or
      53.11, and who is a resident or patient in a health care facility or
      hospital located in the county to which the application has been
      submitted shall be delivered the appropriate absentee ballot by two
      special precinct election officers, one of whom shall be a member of
      each of the political parties referred to in section 49.13, who shall
      be appointed by the commissioner from the election board panel for
      the special precinct established by section 53.20.  The special
      precinct election officers shall be sworn in the manner provided by
      section 49.75 for election board members, shall receive compensation
      as provided in section 49.20, and shall perform their duties during
      the ten calendar days after the ballots are printed if the
      commissioner so elects, during the fourteen calendar days preceding
      the election, and on election day if all ballots requested under
      section 53.8, subsection 3, have not previously been delivered and
      returned.
         (2)  If materials are prepared for the two special precinct
      election officials, a list shall be made of all voters to whom
      ballots are to be delivered.  The list shall be sent with the
      officials who deliver the ballots and shall include spaces to
      indicate whether the person was present at the hospital or health
      care facility when the officials arrived, whether the person
      requested assistance from the officials, whether the person was
      assisted by another person of the voter's choice, the time that the
      ballot was returned to the officials, and any other notes the
      officials deem necessary.
         (3)  The officials shall also be issued a supply of extra ballots
      to replace spoiled ballots.  Receipts shall be issued in
      substantially the same form as receipts issued to precinct election
      officials pursuant to section 49.65.  All ballots shall be accounted
      for and shall be returned to the commissioner.  Separate envelopes
      shall be provided for the return of spoiled ballots and unused
      ballots.
         b.  If an applicant under this subsection notifies the
      commissioner that the applicant will not be available at the health
      care facility or hospital address at any time during the ten-day
      period after the ballots are printed, if applicable, or during the
      fourteen-day period immediately prior to the election, but will be
      available there at some other time prior to the election or on
      election day, the commissioner shall direct the two special precinct
      election officers to deliver the applicant's ballot at an appropriate
      time preceding the election or on election day.  If a person who so
      requested an absentee ballot has been dismissed from the health care
      facility or hospital, the special precinct election officers may take
      the ballot to the voter if the voter is currently residing in the
      county.
         c.  The special precinct election officers shall travel
      together in the same vehicle and both shall be present when an
      applicant casts an absentee ballot.  If either or both of the special
      precinct election officers fail to appear at the time the duties set
      forth in this section are to be performed, the commissioner shall at
      once appoint some other person, giving preference to persons
      designated by the respective county chairpersons of the political
      parties described in section 49.13, to carry out the requirements of
      this section.  The persons authorized by this subsection to deliver
      an absentee ballot to an applicant, if requested, may assist the
      applicant in filling out the ballot as permitted by section 49.90.
      After the voter has securely sealed the marked ballot in the envelope
      provided and has subscribed to the oath, the voted absentee ballots
      shall be deposited in a sealed container which shall be returned to
      the commissioner on the same day the ballots are voted.  On election
      day the officers shall return the sealed container by the time the
      polls are closed.
         2.  Any registered voter who becomes a patient or resident of a
      hospital or health care facility in the county where the voter is
      registered to vote within three days prior to the date of any
      election or on election day may request an absentee ballot during
      that period or on election day.  As an alternative to the application
      procedure prescribed by section 53.2, the registered voter may make
      the request directly to the officers who are delivering and returning
      absentee ballots under this section.  Alternatively, the request may
      be made by telephone to the office of the commissioner not later than
      four hours before the close of the polls.  If the requester is found
      to be a registered voter of that county, these officers shall deliver
      the appropriate absentee ballot to the registered voter in the manner
      prescribed by this section.
         3.  For any election except a primary or general election or a
      special election to fill a vacancy under section 69.14, the
      commissioner may, as an alternative to subsection 1, mail an absentee
      ballot to an applicant under this section to be voted and returned to
      the commissioner in accordance with this chapter.  This subsection
      only applies to applications for absentee ballots from a single
      health care facility or hospital if there are no more than two
      applications from that facility or hospital.
         4.  The commissioner shall mail an absentee ballot to a registered
      voter who has applied for an absentee ballot and who is a patient or
      resident of a hospital or health care facility outside the county in
      which the voter is registered to vote.
         5. a.  If the registered voter becomes a patient or resident
      of a hospital or health care facility outside the county where the
      voter is registered to vote within three days before the date of any
      election or on election day, the voter may designate a person to
      deliver and return the absentee ballot.  The designee may be any
      person the voter chooses except that no candidate for any office to
      be voted upon for the election for which the ballot is requested may
      deliver a ballot under this subsection.  The request for an absentee
      ballot may be made by telephone to the office of the commissioner not
      later than four hours before the close of the polls.  If the
      requester is found to be a registered voter of that county, the
      ballot shall be delivered by mail or by the person designated by the
      voter.  An application form shall be included with the absentee
      ballot and shall be signed by the voter and returned with the ballot.

         b.  Absentee ballots voted under this subsection shall be
      delivered to the commissioner no later than the time the polls are
      closed on election day.  If the ballot is returned by mail the return
      envelope must be received by the time the polls close, or clearly
      postmarked by an officially authorized postal service not later than
      the day before the election and received by the commissioner no later
      than the time established for the canvass by the board of supervisors
      for that election.
         6.  Observers representing candidates, political parties, or
      nonparty political organizations, or observers who are opponents or
      proponents of a ballot issue to be voted on at the election are
      prohibited from being present at a hospital or health care facility
      during the time the special precinct election officers are delivering
      absentee ballots to the residents of such hospital or health care
      facility.  

         Section History: Early Form

         [C71, 73, 75, § 53.17; C77, 79, 81, § 53.22; 81 Acts, ch 34, § 37]
      

         Section History: Recent Form

         84 Acts, ch 1291, § 18, 19; 85 Acts, ch 67, §8; 87 Acts, ch 221, §
      27, 28; 88 Acts, ch 1119, §28; 93 Acts, ch 143, § 34; 94 Acts, ch
      1169, §65; 94 Acts, ch 1180, §23, 24; 2007 Acts, ch 59, §28, 38; 2009
      Acts, ch 57, §68; 2009 Acts, ch 143, §2--4
         Referred to in § 39A.4, 48A.7A, 53.8, 53.17, 53.20, 53.49, 135C.29