Iowa Code § 49.57
This is the official text of Iowa Code § 49.57, part of Iowa’s Code — part of the compiled statutory law of Iowa, published by the state as "Code." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.
Not legal advice. This page reproduces the official text of a government statute for reference only. Laws change, and how a statute applies depends on your specific facts. For advice about your situation, consult a licensed attorney in your state.
Method and style of printing ballots.
Official statutory text
Ballots shall be prepared as follows:
(1) They shall be on paper uniform in color, through which the printing or writing cannot be read.
(2) After the name of each candidate for a partisan office the name of the candidate’s political party shall be printed in at least six point type. The names of political parties and nonparty political organizations may be abbreviated on the remainder of the ballot if both the full name and the abbreviation appear in the voter instruction area of the ballot.
(3) The names of candidates shall be printed in upper case and lower case letters using a uniform font size throughout the ballot. The font size shall be not less than ten point type.
(4) In no case shall the font size for public measures, constitutional amendments, and constitutional convention questions, and summaries thereof, be less than ten point type.
(5) On ballots that will be counted by automatic tabulating equipment, ballots shall include a voting target next to the name of each candidate. The position, shape, and size of the targets shall be appropriate for the equipment to be used in counting the votes. Where paper ballots are used, a square may be printed at the beginning of each line in which the name of a candidate is printed, except as otherwise provided.
(6) A portion of the ballot shall include the words “Official ballot”, the unique identification number or name assigned by the commissioner to the ballot style, the date of the election, and the facsimile or likeness of the county seal of the county of the commissioner who has caused the ballot to be printed pursuant to section 49.51.
(7) The office title of any office which appears on the ballot to fill a vacancy before the end of the usual term of the office shall include the words “To Fill Vacancy”.
[C97, §1109; S13, §1109; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §775; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §49.57]97 Acts, ch 170, §44; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §34, 115; 2007 Acts, ch 59, §8 – 10, 19; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §31; 2017 Acts, ch 110, §48; 2019 Acts, ch 148, §28, 33, 43; 2020 Acts, ch 1098, §4; 2021 Acts, ch 147, §29, 54
(1) They shall be on paper uniform in color, through which the printing or writing cannot be read.
(2) After the name of each candidate for a partisan office the name of the candidate’s political party shall be printed in at least six point type. The names of political parties and nonparty political organizations may be abbreviated on the remainder of the ballot if both the full name and the abbreviation appear in the voter instruction area of the ballot.
(3) The names of candidates shall be printed in upper case and lower case letters using a uniform font size throughout the ballot. The font size shall be not less than ten point type.
(4) In no case shall the font size for public measures, constitutional amendments, and constitutional convention questions, and summaries thereof, be less than ten point type.
(5) On ballots that will be counted by automatic tabulating equipment, ballots shall include a voting target next to the name of each candidate. The position, shape, and size of the targets shall be appropriate for the equipment to be used in counting the votes. Where paper ballots are used, a square may be printed at the beginning of each line in which the name of a candidate is printed, except as otherwise provided.
(6) A portion of the ballot shall include the words “Official ballot”, the unique identification number or name assigned by the commissioner to the ballot style, the date of the election, and the facsimile or likeness of the county seal of the county of the commissioner who has caused the ballot to be printed pursuant to section 49.51.
(7) The office title of any office which appears on the ballot to fill a vacancy before the end of the usual term of the office shall include the words “To Fill Vacancy”.
[C97, §1109; S13, §1109; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §775; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, 75, 77, 79, 81, §49.57]97 Acts, ch 170, §44; 2002 Acts, ch 1134, §34, 115; 2007 Acts, ch 59, §8 – 10, 19; 2009 Acts, ch 57, §31; 2017 Acts, ch 110, §48; 2019 Acts, ch 148, §28, 33, 43; 2020 Acts, ch 1098, §4; 2021 Acts, ch 147, §29, 54
Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site
Need a lawyer in Iowa?
Find a Iowa lawyer
About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the
Open US Law dataset
(Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine
(Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.