39.2 Special elections.

1. a. All special elections which are authorized or required by law, unless the applicable law otherwise requires, shall be held on Tuesday. A special election shall not be held on the first, second, third, and fourth Tuesdays preceding and following the primary and the general elections.

b. A special election shall not be held in conjunction with the primary election. A special election shall not be held in conjunction with a school election unless the special election is for a school district or community college. A special election shall not be held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled or special city primary or city runoff election.

2. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 1, a special election may be held on the same day as a regularly scheduled election if the two elections are not in conflict within the meaning of section 47.6, subsection 2. A special election may be held on the same day as a regularly scheduled election with which it does so conflict if the commissioner who is responsible for conducting the elections concludes that to do so will cause no undue difficulties.

3. a. When voting is to occur on the same day in any one precinct for two or more elections, they shall be considered one election for purposes of administration including but not limited to publishing notice of the election, preparation of the precinct election register and completion of tally sheets after the polling place has closed.

b. If a special election to fill a vacancy is held in conjunction with a regularly scheduled election, the filing deadlines for the special election shall coincide with the filing deadlines for the regularly scheduled election. An election to fill a vacancy in a city office cannot be held in conjunction with a general election if the city election procedures provide for a primary election.

4. Unless otherwise provided by law, special elections on public measures are limited to the following dates:

a. For a county, on the day of the general election, on the day of the regular city election, on the date of a special election held to fill a vacancy in the same county, or on the first Tuesday in March, the first Tuesday in May, or the first Tuesday in August of each year.

b. For a city, on the day of the general election, on the day of the regular city election, on the date of a special election held to fill a vacancy in the same city, or on the first Tuesday in March, the first Tuesday in May, or the first Tuesday in August of each year.

c. For a school district or merged area, in the odd-numbered year, the first Tuesday in February, the first Tuesday in April, the last Tuesday in June, or the second Tuesday in September. For a school district or merged area, in the even-numbered year, the first Tuesday in February, the first Tuesday in April, the second Tuesday in September, or the second Tuesday in December.

[C51, §237; R60, §460; C73, §574; C97, §1058; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §505; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §39.2]

90 Acts, ch 1238, §1; 93 Acts, ch 143, §2; 98 Acts, ch 1123, §1; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §1, 115; 2008 Acts, ch 1032, §201; 2008 Acts, ch 1115, §24, 71; 2017 Acts, ch 110, §39; 2018 Acts, ch 1149, §2, 12

Referred to in §47.6, 57.3, 75.1, 99F.7, 145A.7, 257.18, 257.29, 260C.28, 260C.39, 275.18, 275.23A, 275.25, 275.35, 275.36, 275.55, 277.2, 278.1, 279.39, 297.11, 298.2, 298.9, 298.18, 298.21, 300.2, 330.17, 331.309, 346.27, 347.14, 347.23, 347.23A, 362.11, 364.2, 368.19, 372.2, 372.9, 392.6, 423B.1, 423F.3

For future amendments to subsections 1, 2, and 4, effective July 1, 2019, see 2017 Acts, ch 155, §1, 9 – 13, 44

Subsection 4, paragraph c amended