§ Iowa Code § 44.18Affiliation on voter registration form

44.18 Affiliation on voter registration form.
1. A nonparty political organization that nominated a candidate whose name appeared
on the general election ballot for a federal office, for governor, or for any other statewide
elective office in any of the preceding ten years may request registration of voters showing
their affiliation with the nonparty political organization pursuant to this section.
2. The organization shall file the following documents with the state registrar of voters on
or before December 1 of an even-numbered year:
a. A petition in the form prescribed by the registrar and signed by no fewer than eight
hundred fifty eligible electors residing in at least five counties in the state. The petition shall
include the official name of the organization; the organization’s name as the organization
requests it to appear on the voter registration form if different from the organization’s
official name; and the name, address, and telephone number of the contact person for
Tue Dec 09 22:31:12 2025
Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 44 (25, 2)
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NOMINATIONS BY NONPARTY POLITICAL ORGANIZATIONS, §44.18
the organization. Each person who signs the petition shall include the person’s signature,
printed name, residence address with house number, street name, city, and county, and the
date the person signed the petition.
b. A copy of the nonparty political organization’s articles of incorporation, bylaws,
constitution, or other document relating to establishment of the organization. Such copy
shall be certified as a true copy of the original by the custodian of the original document.
c. An application form prescribed by the state registrar of voters. The form shall include
all of the following:
(1) The official name of the nonparty political organization.
(2) The name, address, and telephone number of the contact person for the organization
who is responsible for the application.
(3) The signature of the chief executive officer of the organization approving the
application.
(4) The organization’s name as the organization requests it to appear on the voter
registration form if different from the organization’s official name.
3. The nonparty political organization’s name and its name as listed on the voter
registration form shall conform to the requirements of section 43.121. The registrar shall
not invalidate the application solely because the registrar finds the official name of the
organization or the name to be included on the voter registration form to be unacceptable. If
the registrar finds the name to be unacceptable, the registrar shall contact the organization
and provide assistance in identifying an appropriate official name for the organization and
for identifying the organization on the voter registration form. A determination by the
registrar that the official name or voter registration form name requested is acceptable for
use within the voter registration system is final.
4. The registrar and the voter registration commission may require biennial filings to
update contact information.
5. Beginning in January 2011, and each odd-numbered year thereafter, the registrar and
the voter registration commission may review the number of voters registered as affiliated
with a nonparty political organization. If the number of registrants, including both active and
inactive voters, is fewer than one hundred fifty, the commission shall declare the organization
to be dormant for purposes of voter registration and may revise the voter registration form
and instructions and electronic voter registration system to remove the organization from the
list of nonparty political organizations with which a voter may register as affiliated. However,
a change shall not be made to the record of political affiliation of individual registrants unless
the registrant requests the change.
6. If a political party, as defined in section 43.2, fails to receive a sufficient number of
votes in a general election to retain status as a political party and the former political party
organizes as a nonparty political organization, the organization may request registration of
voters showing their affiliation with the organization. A change shall not be made to the
record of political party affiliation of individual registrants unless the registrant requests the
change.
Tue Dec 09 22:31:12 2025
Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 44 (25, 2)