Chapter 1 CHAPTER 1 Challenges to Elections Must be Based on Written Authority: Constitutions, Laws and Regulations What do you mean I lost the election? I can prove that I won it! What do you mean that my candidacy registration was rejected? I can prove that I qualified! What do I do now? After reading this book, you will know that before you take any step to challenge the election or the ruling against you, you must look at the constitutional provisions, the statutes and the regulations that apply to elections. They will tell you what you must do, and when you must do it. They will also tell you that you cannot rely on theories of equity or other common law principles to establish your claim in a lawsuit challenging the decision against you. A. There is no common law basis for election challenges. The right to contest an election is only conferred by statute, and contestants must strictly comply with the provisions of the statute in order to confer jurisdiction. Thus, contestants are limited to the scheme provided by the legislature. These are the words of the Iowa Supreme Court in the case of Taylor v. Central City Community School District, 733 N.W.2d 655,657 (2007), where four votes out of a total vote of 907 determined whether a $4,605,000 bond issue passed. Large consequences flow from small details in state laws that regulate challenges to election results, such as those regarding filing an election contest at the right time and in the right manner. That is because there is no common law basis for a challenge to an election. This means that there is no right to challenge elections except as is set out in the constitution, laws or regulations. Taken together, these documents set out all of the rules that apply to election challenges, including (1) the steps that must be followed in challenging an election and (2) the procedures that must be followed during an election. You will not be allowed to challenge an election if you do not follow the required procedural steps and present factual evidence that violations of required election procedures occurred. The rules define: • • • • • • against whom a challenge must be brought, who can file a challenge to an election, when a challenge can be made, where a challenge must be filed, in what form a challenge must be filed, what information must accompany the filing of a challenge, 1