TrustVoting Atlas

47.2 County commissioner of elections.
1. The county auditor of each county is designated as the county commissioner of
elections in each county. The county commissioner of elections shall conduct voter
registration pursuant to chapter 48A and conduct all elections within the county. The county
commissioner of elections does not possess home rule powers with respect to the exercise of
powers or duties related to the conduct of elections prescribed by statute or rule, or guidance
or directives issued pursuant to section 47.1.
2. a. When an election is to be held as required by law or is called by a political
subdivision of the state and the political subdivision is located in more than one county,
the county commissioner of elections of each of those counties shall conduct that election
within the commissioner’s county. However, the commissioner for the county having
the greatest taxable base within the political subdivision shall serve as the controlling
commissioner for the election. The controlling commissioner shall receive all nomination
papers and public measures for the political subdivision. By the forty-first day prior to
the election, the controlling commissioner shall certify the names of candidates and the
text and summary of any public measure being submitted to the electorate to all county
commissioners of elections required to conduct elections for the political subdivision. The
county commissioners of elections of the other counties in which the political subdivision is
located shall cooperate with the controlling commissioner.
b. Notwithstanding paragraph “a”, for a city primary election, city runoff election, or a
special election for a city, school district, or merged area, if a political subdivision is located
in more than one county, the county commissioner of elections of a county not having the
greatest taxable base within the political subdivision may designate that the controlling
commissioner of the political subdivision shall conduct that election if fewer than one
hundred twenty-five registered voters of the political subdivision are located within such
county commissioner’s county. If the controlling commissioner is so designated, section
50.24, subsections 4 and 5, shall not apply. For the purposes of this paragraph, the number
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Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 47 (33, 1)
3
ELECTION COMMISSIONERS, §47.3
of registered voters shall be the number of registered voters in the political subdivision of
a county not having the greatest taxable base on May 1 immediately preceding the first
day of the filing period for candidates for the election. If May 1 falls on a day when the
county commissioner’s office is closed for business, the county commissioner shall use the
number of registered voters on the next day that the county commissioner’s office is open
for business to determine the number of registered voters.
3. The commissioner may designate as a deputy county commissioner of elections any
officer of a political subdivision who is required by law to accept nomination papers filed by
candidates for office in that political subdivision, and when so designated that person shall
assist the commissioner in administering elections conducted by the commissioner for that
subdivision. The designation of a person as a deputy commissioner of elections pursuant to
this section, once made, shall continue in effect until the designation is withdrawn by the
commissioner.
4. The commissioner shall assign each local public measure a letter for identification
purposes. The public measure on the ballot shall be identified by the letter.
a. The county commissioner who is responsible under subsection 2 for conducting the
elections held for a political subdivision which lies in more than one county shall assign the
letter to the public measure.
b. The county commissioners of elections of the other counties in which the political
subdivision is located shall not assign the same letter to a local public measure on the ballot
in their counties during the same election.
5. The office of county auditor or county commissioner of elections in each county shall be
open for at least eight hours on the Saturday preceding a general election, primary election,
or special election called by the governor for the purpose of receiving absentee ballots and
conducting other official business relating to the election.
6. On the final date for filing nomination papers in the commissioner’s office the office
shall be open until the time for receiving nomination papers has passed.
7. The county commissioner of elections shall, to maintain election security, do all of the
following:
a. When the county commissioner believes that a cybersecurity incident or data breach
has occurred, the county commissioner shall immediately inform the state commissioner of
elections.
b. If the county commissioner has no reason to believe that a cybersecurity incident
or data breach has occurred, the county commissioner shall certify that fact to the state
commissioner on an annual basis.
8. The county commissioner shall not participate in an absentee ballot drive or collection
effort in cooperation with a candidate, candidate’s committee, political party, or nonparty
political organization. However, when a county commissioner is a candidate for election, such
a county commissioner may participate in an absentee ballot drive or collection effort, but
shall not aid any other candidate, candidate’s committee, political party, or nonparty political
organization.
Acts, ch 123, §8
376.9
Subsection 1 amended