DES MOINES – Iowa Secretary of State Paul Pate released the following statement upon reports of errors made by school board secretaries and city clerks, who serve as filing officers for Iowa’s 2025 City-School Election. Filing officers in at least seven different counties failed to submit candidate filing paperwork to the county auditors by the 12 p.m. noon deadline on Friday, September 19.

“We are disappointed to hear of the errors made by multiple school board secretaries and city clerks, considering we have provided these officials with extensive training resources and conducted detailed training sessions.

Following these training sessions, school board secretaries and city clerks received digital copies of the filing officer’s guide, school board secretary’s guide, and city clerk’s guide, as well as copies of the affidavit of candidacy and forms for nomination petitions. It’s worth noting that out of 941 Iowa cities, just six city clerks made this error, and out of 325 Iowa school districts, only three school board secretaries made the error. The resources provided to these cities and school districts clearly stated the deadlines as indicated by the Iowa Code.

Iowa Code 277.4 states that the secretary of the school board is to deliver all nomination petitions the day after the last day on which nomination petitions can be filed, no later than 12 p.m. noon. The same deadline applies to city clerks designated as filing officers per Iowa Code 376.4. The last day to receive nomination petitions for the 2025 City-School Election was 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 18, and thus the petitions were legally required to be delivered to the county auditor’s office by 12 p.m. on Friday, September 19.

These errors have impacted at least 34 candidates across at least seven counties, six cities, and three school districts. It is unfortunate that the affected candidates will be required to undergo write-in campaigns due to errors made by the filing officers, but it is the duty of our office, the county auditor’s office, and the filing officer to adhere to Iowa law.

Moving forward, the Iowa Secretary of State’s Office will work with Iowa’s 99 county auditors to continue to provide detailed training resources to Iowa’s designated filing officers and ensure they are compliant with Iowa’s legal requirements.”

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Known Counties and Jurisdictions Impacted:

• Calhoun County
  • City of Jolley
• Chickasaw County
  • New Hampton Community School District
  • Turkey Valley Community School District
• Clinton County
  • City of Andover
  • City of Welton
• Davis County
  • City of Pulaski
• Fayette County
  • Oelwein Community School District
• Ida County
  • City of Galva
• Iowa County

City of Williamsburg