Ballot Order

September 25, 2024

Guest Column by Whitney Hein, Jones County Auditor and Commissioner of Elections

Ballot Order

Ballots for the General Election have been ordered from the printing company and sample ballots are now available on the Jones County Election website (www.jonescountyiowaelections.gov). In 2022 for the Gubernatorial General Election, I fielded many questions and concerns about the candidate order on the ballots specifically related to the major political party whose candidates were listed first as this major political party was the opposite party in which the County Auditor is affiliated with. I do have an explanation for how my staff and I order the contests and candidates on each ballot. Also, keep in mind that the order is different for each type of election held.

                For General Elections like the upcoming November 5, 2024, Presidential Election, Iowa Code Section 49.37 states that offices should be arranged in groups – first partisan offices, then nonpartisan offices, then judges, and lastly public measures. Each group usually has multiple contests.

You may ask how the order of each contest is arranged within the group. Iowa Code Section 49.37 also has an answer for this for partisan offices. It states that the local commissioner of elections shall arrange the ballot in conformity with the certificate issued by the state commissioner of elections. Then, it states that partisan county offices on the ballot should list the board of supervisor’s races first, followed by other county offices in the same sequence in which they appear in Iowa Code section 39.17.

The candidates within each partisan office contest are arranged per Iowa Code section 49.31. Prior to July 1, 2019, the local commissioner of elections had the ability to choose which political party was listed first for each race. Generally speaking, if the County Auditor was affiliated with the Republican Party, then Republican candidates would be listed before the Democratic candidates. Since July 1, 2019, the order is based on a rotation specified within Iowa law. Here is a glimpse into the rotation in Jones County. In the 2020 Presidential General Election, Republican Candidates were listed first. Then in the 2022 Gubernatorial General Election, Democratic candidates were listed first. For the 2024 Presidential General Election, Democratic Candidates will be listed first. Looking into the future, in the 2026 Gubernatorial General Election, Republicans will be listed first and then in the 2028 Presidential General Election, Republicans will be listed first again. Do you see the pattern? It rotates so that one political party is listed first for a sequential Gubernatorial and Presidential General Election and then the next set of Gubernatorial and Presidential General Elections will be the opposite political party listed first. Not every county will have the Democratic Party listed first for the 2024 Presidential Election. The law provides for 50 counties to have one major political party listed first while the other 49 counties have the opposite major political party listed first.

Per the Secretary of State office, the nonpartisan office group shall be arranged as follows. Township Officers, Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioners, and then County Agricultural Extension Council Members. The order of nonpartisan candidates within each race is determined by drawing lots. Per Iowa Code section 49.31 (2)(c), the drawing of lots shall be held on the sixty-eighth day prior to election day. On Thursday, August 29, 2024, my staff and I held an old-fashioned drawing. The names of each candidate for each nonpartisan office were printed on a piece of paper. Race by race, the applicable names were put into a bowl and drawn out one by one. The first name drawn is the name that will appear first on that respective race, the second name drawn is the name that will appear second on that respective race, and so on.

The judges appear on the ballot after the nonpartisan races. These are generally on the back of the ballot since the partisan and nonpartisan offices usually take up the whole front side of the ballot. The judges are listed in the order as prescribed on the certification received from the state commissioner of elections as stated in Iowa Code Section 46.21.

Last but not least, the public measures, if any, are listed on the ballot. Constitutional amendments, if any, are always listed first in the public measure section followed by statewide public measures, then county public measures, and then city and school public measures. For this Presidential General Election, there are two constitutional amendments that are listed on all ballots in the county. If you live in the Monticello Community School District, there will also be a public measure for the school listed on your ballot.

As you can see, many details go into making sure each ballot is accurately prepared so that the Iowa law is being followed. My staff and I spend many hours proofing ballots to make sure each ballot is correct. This is a job we take very seriously, and we even read each ballot aloud to each other spelling out every name listed so that it can be compared to the certification documents. There is no room for error and everything on each ballot must be 100% correct.