The Iowa General Assembly adjourned its 2026 regular session on May 3 after passing five election-related bills. Gov. Kim Reynolds (R) signed each of the bills by June 2.

Among the enacted bills was HF 2601, which prohibits foreign contributions in ballot measure elections. Iowa previously had a ban on foreign funding for candidate elections, but no such prohibition on foreign contributions to ballot measure committees.

Iowa is now the 25th state to ban foreign nationals or governments from contributing to ballot measure campaigns. It is also one of 19 states to prohibit foreign contributions to both campaign and ballot measure committees.

HF 2601 prohibits anyone who is not a citizen or lawful permanent resident of the United States, as well as foreign governments, political parties, and groups, from making contributions to or soliciting contributions for ballot measure campaigns.

The bill requires donors to political committees involved in ballot measures to certify that they are not foreign nationals. Political committees must also affirm that they have not knowingly received contributions from a foreign national.

Finally, the bill prohibits foreign nationals from making independent expenditures in candidate and ballot measure elections.

The bill passed the Iowa House 90-0 on March 23. The Iowa Senate then approved it 44-0 on April 21. Reynolds signed the bill on June 2. 

Lawmakers also passed SF 2218, which requires the state registrar of voters to annually verify the U.S. citizenship status of all registered voters through the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system. 

County commissioners must give any voters flagged as noncitizens the opportunity to cancel their registration or provide proof of citizenship. Election officials must cancel a person's registration if they do not respond within 90 days.

The bill also requires the state to verify the citizenship status of all newly registered voters on a monthly basis.

Iowa is one of six states to enact legislation in 2026 requiring or allowing election officials to check citizenship data as part of the voter list maintenance process. 

The state Senate passed the bill 37-10 on April 28, with 31 Republicans and six Democrats voting in favor and 10 Democrats voting against. It then passed the Iowa House 71-20 on April 29, with 61 Republicans and 10 Democrats voting in favor and 18 Democrats and two Republicans voting against. Reynolds signed the bill on June 2.

Other election bills enacted in 2026 include:

• HF 2501, which eliminates the ability of a voter without an accepted form of ID to have another person attest to their identity in order to vote.
• SF 140, which prohibits satellite absentee voting stations from being located on school property when a school-related measure is on the ballot for that election.
• SF 2472, which allows voters to approve a levy rate higher than the maximum outlined in state law at an election on or after July 1, 2026.

Iowa enacted four election-related bills in 2025, one in 2024, and four in 2023.