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. 3, July 24, 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.