53.31 - CHALLENGES.
53.31 CHALLENGES.
1. Any person qualified to vote at the election in progress may
challenge the qualifications of a person casting an absentee ballot
by submitting a written challenge to the commissioner no later than
five p.m. on the Friday before the election. It is the duty of the
special precinct officials to challenge the absentee ballot of any
person whom the official knows or suspects is not duly qualified.
Challenges by members of the special precinct election board or
observers present pursuant to section 53.23 may be made at any time
before the close of the polls on election day. The challenge shall
state the reasons for which the challenge is being submitted and
shall be signed by the challenger. When a challenge is received the
absentee ballot shall be set aside for consideration by the special
precinct election board when it meets as required by section 50.22.
2. The commissioner shall immediately send a written notice to
the elector whose qualifications have been challenged. The notice
shall be sent to the address at which the challenged elector is
registered to vote. If the ballot was mailed to the challenged
elector, the notice shall also be sent to the address to which the
ballot was mailed if it is different from the elector's registration
address. The notice shall advise the elector of the reason for the
challenge, the date and time that the special precinct election board
will reconvene to determine challenges, and that the elector has the
right to submit written evidence of the elector's qualifications.
The notice shall include the telephone number of the commissioner's
office. If the commissioner has access to a facsimile machine, the
notice shall include the telephone number of the facsimile machine.
As far as possible, other procedures for considering provisional
ballots shall be followed. Section History: Early Form
[SS15, § 1137-k; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, § 957; C46, 50, 54, 58,
62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, § 53.31] Section History: Recent Form
93 Acts, ch 143, § 35; 2005 Acts, ch 19, §25; 2007 Acts, ch 59,
§30, 38
Referred to in § 48A.8, 53.49
Challenges, § 49.79--49.81