Iowa Administrative Code
Agency 721 - Secretary of State
Division II - Elections
Chapter 22 - Voting Systems and Electronic Poll Books
Rule 721-22.232 - Manner of Voting
Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 6, September 18, 2024
After the precinct election official has endorsed a ballot, the official shall instruct the voter to use only the marker provided. The ballot shall be inserted in a secrecy folder and given to the person who is entitled to receive the ballot in accordance with the provisions of Iowa Code section 49.77.
(1) The precinct officials shall provide each voter with a secrecy folder. The commissioner may print basic ballot marking instructions on the secrecy folder. It is not necessary to print information on secrecy folders that will limit the usefulness of the secrecy folder to one or more elections or election types. Upon receipt of the ballot in the secrecy folder, the voter shall retire alone to a voting booth and without delay mark the ballot.
(2) The voter shall vote upon the ballot by marking the appropriate voting target with an appropriate pen or pencil in the manner described in the instructions printed on the ballot.
When a write-in vote has been cast, the ballot must also be marked in the corresponding voting target in order to be counted.
(3) After marking the ballot, the voter shall replace it in the secrecy folder and leave the voting booth at once.
(4) The voter shall at once deposit the ballot, still enclosed in the secrecy folder, in the tabulating device so that the ballot is automatically removed from the secrecy folder, the votes tabulated, and the ballot deposited in the ballot box.
(5) If the tabulating device is equipped with a mechanism that will not permit more than one ballot to be inserted at one time, the voter may insert the ballot into the tabulating device. If the tabulating device cannot detect and reject multiple ballots, the voter shall be required to hand the ballot in the secrecy folder to the precinct election official without revealing any of the marks on the ballot. The precinct election official shall at once deposit the ballot in the manner described in subrule 22.232 (4).
(6) If the tabulating device returns a ballot, the precinct official attending the device shall ask the voter to wait. Without examining the ballot, the official shall enclose the returned ballot in a secrecy folder. If necessary, the official shall read to the voter the information provided by the device about the reason the ballot was returned. The official shall offer the voter the opportunity to correct the ballot. The precinct official shall mark the returned ballot "spoiled" and shall also tear or mark the ballot so that the tabulating device cannot count it. The voter may use the spoiled ballot as a guide for marking the corrected ballot. After the voter has marked the corrected ballot, the precinct officials shall collect the spoiled ballot and keep it with other spoiled ballots.
(7) If the voter who cast the returned ballot is not available, or declines to correct the ballot, the precinct official shall not mark the ballot "spoiled." Either the voter or the official shall reset the tabulating device to accept the ballot. The voter, or the official if the voter has gone, shall insert the ballot into the precinct counter without further examination.
