Iowa § 43.45 - 43.45 Canvass of votes.

§ 43.45. 43.45 Canvass of votes.

1. Upon the closing of the polls the precinct election officials shall immediately publicly canvass the vote. The canvass shall be conducted using the procedures established in this section which are appropriate for the voting system used in the precinct. 2. In precincts where optical scan voting systems are used and ballots are counted in the precinct, precinct election officials shall do all of the following: a. Close and secure the ballot reader to prevent the insertion of additional ballots. b. Print the results for the precinct. c. Open the ballot container. Secure all ballots counted by the vote-tabulating device. Sort the remaining ballots by party. Tally all write-in votes and any other ballots not yet counted. Record the results in the tally list. d. Put all ballots in an envelope or other package and seal it. All members of the board shall sign their names across the seal of the envelope. The seal shall be placed so that the envelope or package cannot be opened without breaking the seal. 3. Notwithstanding any requirement to the contrary in subsection 1 and subsection 2, paragraph “c”, the commissioner of a county using digital ballot counting technology may direct the precinct election officials to tally and record write-in votes at the precincts after the closing of the polls or may direct the precinct election officials to print the write-in report containing digital images of write-in votes for delivery to the special precinct board to tally and record the write-in votes on any day following election day and prior to the canvass by the board of supervisors under section 43.49. For the purposes of this subsection “digital ballot counting technology” is technology in which digital images of write-in votes are printed by the precinct election officials at the polling place after the close of voting. [S13, §1087-a17; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §573; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §43.45] 87 Acts, ch 221, §2; 89 Acts, ch 136, §14; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §9, 115; 2003 Acts, ch 44, §21, 22; 2007 Acts, ch 190, §15, 16; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §7; 2010 Acts, ch 1033, §6, 56; 2015 Acts, ch 85, §1; 2015 Acts, ch 138, §13, 161, 162 Wed Dec 10 22:21:46 2025 Iowa Code 2026, Section 43.45 (26, 0)