§ Iowa Code § 49.16Tenure of election board panel

49.16 Tenure of election board panel.
Each person whose name is placed on the election board panel as provided in section 49.15,
shall remain available for appointment to the election board of the precinct, subject to the
provisions of section 49.12, until a new panel is drawn up unless the person’s name is sooner
deleted from the panel by the commissioner. The election board for each election held in the
precinct shall be drawn from the panel, however:
1. No person shall serve on the election board at any election in which the person or any
person related to the person within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity is a candidate
to be voted upon in that precinct, and it shall be the responsibility of each person whose name
is listed on the election board panel to notify the commissioner not less than fifteen days
before any election at which the person is ineligible to serve by reason of this subsection.
However, this subsection shall not apply in the case of any candidate or relative of a candidate
seeking an office or nomination which no opposing candidate is seeking. Any candidate for
an office or for nomination to an office to which two or more persons are to be elected at large
is unopposed, for the purpose of this subsection, if the number of candidates for the office or
nomination does not exceed the number of persons to be elected or nominated.
2. When all or portions of two or more precincts are merged for any election as permitted
by section 49.11, subsection 3, paragraph “a”, the commissioner may appoint the election
board for the merged precinct from the election board panels of any of the precincts so
merged. When any permanent precinct is divided as permitted by section 49.11, subsection
3, paragraph “c”, the commissioner shall so far as possible appoint the election board for
each of the temporary precincts so created from the election board panel of the permanent
precinct.
3. Persons whose names are listed on the election board panel shall not be required to
serve on the election board for any election which by the terms of the statute authorizing it
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Iowa Code 2026, Chapter 49 (55, 2)
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METHOD OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS, §49.19
is exempt from the provisions of this chapter. The necessary officers for such elections shall
be designated as provided by law or, if there is no applicable statute, by the commissioner.
4. In appointing the election board for any election conducted for a city or a school district,
the commissioner may give preference to any persons who are willing to serve without pay
at those elections.
5. A person shall not serve on the precinct election board as a representative of a political
party if the person has changed political party affiliation from that of the political party which
selected the person to serve as a precinct election official. If a precinct election official records
a change of political party, the official’s name shall be removed from the list of precinct
election officials for that political party. The chairperson of the political party shall be notified
of the vacancy and may designate a replacement. If the chairperson of another political party
later designates the person as a precinct election official, the person may serve, if qualified. If
a precinct election official serving on the board as a representative of a political party records
a change of political party to vote absentee under chapter 53 and after voting absentee records
a change of political party back to the political party the official represents on the precinct
election board, the official’s name shall be removed from the list of precinct election officials
for that election. The chairperson of the political party shall be notified of the vacancy and
may designate a replacement for that election.