What to know about Iowa GOP bill to limit ballot challenges against Trump, ban drop boxes

Iowa Republican lawmakers are advancing legislation that would limit challenges to Donald Trump's place on the 2024 election ballot, as well as make other widespread changes to voting laws.

Lawmakers have advanced two identical bills containing the election changes, House Study Bill 697 and Senate Study Bill 3161. Both were passed through full committees this week with Republicans in favor and Democrats opposed.

Here's what else you should know about the legislation.

The legislation would also:

• Allow federal candidates convicted of felonies to appear on Iowa's ballot.

• Ban ballot drop boxes.

• Ban ranked-choice voting.

• Require absentee ballots to be returned the day before Election Day to be counted.

Here's a breakdown:

Challenges to Donald Trump's candidacy would be limited in Iowa

The Iowa bill would limit the grounds for any challenges to a presidential candidate in the general election.

Political parties are required to submit a certificate with the names of their presidential and vice presidential candidates to the Iowa Secretary of State's office 81 days before the general election.

Under the bill, challenges to presidential candidates would be limited to whether that certificate meets all the legal requirements.

If the bill in Iowa passed, Iowans could still challenge Trump's eligibility in court, but not through the state's law for objecting to candidates appearing on the ballot.

Candidates for other federal offices, such as Congress, could only be challenged on the candidate's age, residency, citizenship and whether their nominating papers meet all the legal requirements.

Requirements for federal candidates are set in the U.S. Constitution, and states do not have the authority to place additional requirements on federal candidates as they can with candidates for state office.

Candidates for Congress and the presidency would no longer have to sign an affidavit attesting that they know they are disqualified from holding office if they have been convicted of a felony. That means they could appear on Iowa's ballot even if they have been convicted of a felony.

Trump faces 91 felony charges in four criminal cases around the country. And he has faced challenges to his candidacy in other states under Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution's 14th Amendment that bars officials from holding office again if they "have engaged in insurrection or rebellion" against the United States.

Absentee ballots could be mailed to voters sooner, but would have to be returned sooner

The bill would change the deadline for returning mail-in absentee ballots, requiring them to be delivered to the county auditor's office by close of business on the day before Election Day to be counted.

Currently, absentee ballots are accepted as long as they arrive by the time polls close on Election Day.

County auditors would also be allowed to begin mailing absentee ballots to voters two days earlier, starting 22 days before Election Day rather than 20 days under current law.

Iowa Republicans have steadily shortened the state's early voting window from 40 days to 29 days down to 20 days since taking full control of state government in 2016. In-person early voting would remain at 20 days under the bill.

Counties would also be required to send voters three envelopes with every absentee ballot. While some counties do use a three-envelope system, some use just two envelopes when handling absentee ballots.

Voters would be required to mark their absentee ballots with a four digit voter verification number or driver's license number.

Ballot drop boxes would be banned in Iowa

County auditors would no longer be able to set up ballot drop boxes for Iowans to return their absentee ballots, under the bill.

A wide-ranging 2021 election law currently allows county auditors to set up one drop box at the auditor's office, under video surveillance.

Ranked-choice voting would be banned in Iowa (it's already not allowed)

Ranked-choice voting would be explicitly banned under the bill, although a spokesperson for the Iowa Secretary of State's office said Iowa law already prohibits the practice.

Ranked choice voting involves voters ranking each candidate in order of preference. If the voter's first-choice candidate failed to win support, their vote would be transferred to their second-choice candidate and so on until one candidate received a majority.

What are Democrats and Republicans saying about the election bill?

Republicans say the bill is about protecting "election integrity" while Democrats say it would make it harder for Iowans to vote.

"You can say it as many times as you want, but this is not an election integrity bill," said Rep. Adam Zabner, D-Iowa City. "This bill will suppress the vote, and it’s a favor for one man, Donald Trump, putting his needs in front of the needs of everyday Iowans who want to exercise their right to vote."

The bill's author, Rep. Bobby Kaufmann, R-Wilton, said "activists" should not be able to decide who appears on a state's ballot.

"The only people obsessed with Donald Trump are my friends across the aisle," said Kaufmann, who worked for Trump's presidential campaign in Iowa as a senior adviser. "I don’t care if you’re Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, independent, Green Party. I don’t care what you are. Ballot access remains with the people."

Stephen Gruber-Miller covers the Iowa Statehouse and politics for the Register. He can be reached by email at sgrubermil@registermedia.com or by phone at 515-284-8169. Follow him on Twitter at @sgrubermiller.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa's bill to limit ballot challenges against Donald Trump, explained