Iowa Senate likely to take up absentee ballot deadline change after House approval

DES MOINES - Although it was approved on a largely party line vote in the GOP-controlled House, a bill changing the deadline for Iowa voters to return their absentee ballots likely will be taken up by the Democratic-controlled Senate.

House Democrats were unanimous in opposing House File 506, arguing it that will disenfranchise voters who wait until the end of the 40-day voting period to mail in their ballots.

'It's a sad day in Iowa,” said Rep. Bruce Hunter, D-Des Moines, who said if the law had been in effect in 2014, more than 3,000 Iowans'' votes would not have been counted. 'Voters who did what was right. They voted. They did their patriotic duty … and we're going to tell them their vote doesn't count.”

The final vote was 56 to 41 with one Republican voting 'no.”

Under current law, an absentee ballot is counted if it is received by the county auditor before the polls close Election Day or if it arrives no later than noon on the Monday following the election and is clearly postmarked.

HF 506 would change the deadline to the close of the polls on Election Day - 9 p.m. for general elections in Iowa. Military ballots still would be counted until noon on the day county supervisors canvass the votes.

Auditors sought the bill. The problem, they said, arises because the postal service does not postmark all mail. After each election, auditors have to tell people their ballot will not be counted because it did not arrive with a postmark to verify it was mailed before the election, floor manager Rep. Quentin Stanerson, R-Center Point, said.

'They have to tell the voter that although they did everything right, their vote can't be counted,” he said.

Senate State Government Committee Chairman Jeff Danielson, D-Cedar Falls, agreed it's a problem, but thinks there is a better solution.

'We don't want to lose those votes” auditors receive between the election and the following Monday, he said. He's likely to propose counting ballots received during that time if they are postmarked.

'I think there is some middle ground” such as counting ballots received by Wednesday or Thursday after Tuesday elections, Danielson said.

'I'm glad they are moving on the issue,” Danielson said, because auditors have been asking for a change. Last year, lawmakers came close to agreeing on language, he and Stanerson said.

In other action Wednesday, the House approved:

HF 447 93-2 to require wireless providers to make cellphone locations available to the Department of Public Safety in emergencies. Modeled on the Kelsey Smith Act, the bill is based on a case from Kansas in which a woman was abducted and murdered. The cellphone provider said it was not authorized to disclose that information to anyone other than the owner of the phone.

The information will be disclosed only to DPS only when a person is believed to be in great danger or harm, according to Rep. Gary Worthan, R-Storm Lake.

HF 496 95-0 to provide that military victim advocates will not be required to testify in civil or criminal proceedings related to confidential communications between them and the victim of a violent crime.