53.17 Mailing or delivering ballot.

1. If the commissioner mailed the ballot pursuant to section 53.8, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (1), the sealed envelope bearing the voter’s affidavit and containing the absentee ballot shall be enclosed in a return envelope which shall be securely sealed. If the commissioner mailed the ballot pursuant to section 53.8, subsection 1, paragraph “a”, subparagraph (2), the absentee ballot shall be enclosed in the return envelope which shall be securely sealed. The sealed return envelope shall be returned to the commissioner by one of the following methods:

a. The sealed return envelope may be delivered by the registered voter, by the voter’s designee, or by the special precinct election officials designated pursuant to section 53.22, subsection 2, to the commissioner’s office no later than the time the polls are closed on election day. However, if delivered by the voter’s designee, the envelope shall be delivered within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or before the closing of the polls on election day, whichever is earlier.

b. The sealed return envelope may be mailed to the commissioner by the registered voter or by the voter’s designee. If mailed by the voter’s designee, the envelope must be mailed within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or within time to be postmarked or, if applicable, to have the intelligent mail barcode traced to a date of entry into the federal mail system not later than the day before the election, whichever is earlier.

2. In order for the ballot to be counted, the return envelope must be received in the commissioner’s office before the polls close on election day or be clearly postmarked by an officially authorized postal service or bear an intelligent mail barcode traceable to a date of entry into the federal mail system not later than the day before the election and received by the commissioner not later than noon on the Monday following the election.

3. If the law authorizing the election specifies that the supervisors canvass the votes earlier than the Monday following the election, absentee ballots returned through the mail must be received not later than the time established for the canvass by the board of supervisors for that election. The commissioner shall contact the post office serving the commissioner’s office at the latest practicable hour before the canvass by the board of supervisors for that election, and shall arrange for absentee ballots received in that post office but not yet delivered to the commissioner’s office to be brought to the commissioner’s office before the canvass for that election by the board of supervisors.

4. When a person designated by the voter retrieves a completed absentee ballot from the voter, the designee shall, upon request of the voter, fill out a receipt to be retained by the voter. The state commissioner shall prescribe a form for receipts required by this subsection. The receipt shall include all of the following:

a. The name of the voter’s designee.

b. The date and time the completed absentee ballot was received from the voter.

c. The name and date of the election for which the absentee ballot is being voted.

d. The name of the political party, candidate, or committee for which the designee is acting as an actual or implied agent, if applicable.

e. A telephone number at which the voter’s designee may be contacted.

f. A statement that the completed absentee ballot will be delivered to the commissioner’s office within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or before the closing of the polls on election day, whichever is earlier, or that the completed absentee ballot will be mailed to the commissioner within seventy-two hours of retrieving it from the voter or within time to be postmarked or, if applicable, to have the intelligent mail barcode traced to a date of entry into the federal mail system not later than the day before the election, whichever is earlier.

[SS15, §1137-g; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §943; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §53.17; 81 Acts, ch 34, §36]

84 Acts, ch 1291, §17; 87 Acts, ch 221, §26; 90 Acts, ch 1238, §29; 94 Acts, ch 1169, §64; 94 Acts, ch 1180, §22; 2004 Acts, ch 1083, §33, 37; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §361, 362; 2007 Acts, ch 59, §27, 38; 2007 Acts, ch 215, §225 – 228; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §64; 2014 Acts, ch 1101, §19, 32; 2016 Acts, ch 1121, §11 – 13, 17

Referred to in §50.22, 50.24, 53.9, 53.18, 53.44, 53.49, 53.53