Iowa Code
Chapter 49 - METHOD OF CONDUCTING ELECTIONS
Section 49.13 - Commissioner to appoint members, chairperson.

49.13 Commissioner to appoint members, chairperson.
1. The membership of each precinct election board shall be appointed by the commissioner, not less than fifteen days before each election held in the precinct, from the election board panel drawn up as provided in section 49.15. Precinct election officials shall be registered voters of the county, or other political subdivision within which precincts have been merged across county lines pursuant to section 49.11, subsection 3, paragraph “a”, in which they are appointed. Preference shall be given to appointment of residents of a precinct to serve as precinct election officials for that precinct, but the commissioner may appoint other residents of the county where necessary.
2. For all elections in which a partisan office is on the ballot, election boards shall include members of the two political parties whose candidates for president of the United States or for governor, as the case may be, received the largest and next largest number of votes in the county at the last general election. Election boards may also include persons not members of either of these parties. However, persons who are not members of either of these political parties shall not comprise more than one-third of the membership of an election board.
3. In appointing the election board to serve for any election in which candidates’ names do appear under the heading of these political parties, the commissioner shall give preference to the persons designated by the respective county chairpersons of these political parties for placement on the election board panel, as provided by section 49.15, in the order that they were so designated. However, the commissioner may for good cause decline to appoint a designee of a county chairperson if that chairperson is notified and allowed two working days to designate a replacement.
4. In appointing the election board to serve for a nonpartisan election, the commissioner may give preference to the persons who are willing to serve without pay identified pursuant to section 49.15, subsection 2, paragraph “b”, by the city council or the school board.
5. The commissioner shall designate one member of each precinct election board as chairperson of that board. At the discretion of the commissioner, two people who are members of different political parties may be appointed as co-chairpersons. The co-chairpersons shall have joint authority over the work of the precinct election board.
6. The commissioner may appoint high school students who are not yet qualified to be registered voters to serve as precinct election board members.
a. To qualify to serve as a precinct election board member, a high school student shall:
(1) Be a United States citizen.
(2) Be at least seventeen years of age and a student in good standing enrolled in a public or private secondary school in Iowa.
(3) Receive credit in at least four subjects, each of one period or hour, or the equivalent thereof, at all times. The eligible subjects are language arts, social studies, mathematics, science, health, physical education, fine arts, world language, and career and technical education. Coursework taken as a postsecondary enrollment option for which a school district or accredited nonpublic school grants academic credit toward high school graduation shall be used in determining eligibility. A student shall not be denied eligibility if the student’s school program deviates from the traditional two-semester school year. Each student wishing to participate under this subsection shall be passing all coursework for which credit is given and shall be making adequate progress toward graduation requirements at the end of each grading period. At the end of a grading period that is the final grading period in a school year, a student who receives a failing grade in any course for which credit is awarded is ineligible to participate under this subsection. A student who is eligible at the close of a semester is academically eligible to participate under this subsection until the beginning of the subsequent semester. A student with a disability who has an individualized education program shall not be denied eligibility to participate under this subsection on the basis of scholarship if the student is making adequate progress, as determined by school officials, towards the goals and objectives of the student’s individualized education program.
(4) At the time of appointment, have the written approval of the principal of the secondary school the student attends.
(5) Have the written approval of the student’s parent or legal guardian.
(6) Have satisfactorily completed the training course for election officials.
(7) Meet all other qualifications for appointment and service as an election board member except the requirement of being a registered voter.
b. No more than one student precinct election board member may serve on each precinct election board.
c. Student precinct election board members shall not serve as the chairperson of a precinct election board.
d. Before serving at a partisan election, the student precinct election board member must certify in writing to the commissioner the political party with which the student is affiliated.
e. Student precinct election board members shall not be allowed to work more hours than allowed under the applicable labor laws.
f. A student who serves on a precinct election board is not eligible to receive class credit for such service unless such service qualifies as meeting the requirements of a class assignment imposed on all students in the class.
g. No later than fourteen days after the date of the election, the commissioner shall report to the appropriate secondary school the following information:
(1) The name of each student attending the school who served as a precinct election board member on election day.
(2) The number of hours the student served as a precinct election board member.
(3) The precinct number and polling place location where the student served as a precinct election board member.
(4) Any other information the commissioner deems appropriate or that is requested by the school.
7. A person serving on a precinct election board pursuant to subsection 2 or 3 who changes the political party of which the person is a member within thirty days before an election shall be immediately removed from the board and a substitute shall be appointed pursuant to section 49.14.
[C97, §1093; SS15, §1093; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §733; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §49.15; C75, 77, 79, 81, §49.13]
95 Acts, ch 67, §53; 97 Acts, ch 170, §23; 2007 Acts, ch 34, §1; 2007 Acts, ch 138, §1; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §194; 2009 Acts, ch 41, §25; 2010 Acts, ch 1026, §3, 17; 2010 Acts, ch 1033, §16; 2010 Acts, ch 1060, §4; 2016 Acts, ch 1108, §10; 2018 Acts, ch 1083, §1; 2021 Acts, ch 12, §34, 73
Referred to in §49.14, 49.15, 49.18, 49.73, 49.89, 50.21, 53.22, 53.23
Child labor restrictions, see chapter 92
NEW subsection 7

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