Guide 15

Iowa Nomination Petitions: A 2027 Guide for Local Candidates

An Iowa nomination petition is the set of signed paper pages that puts a local candidate's name on the ballot. In 2027, nearly every candidate for city office, school board or community college board files one, because Iowa has no filing fee and no fee-only route for these offices. The petition goes in together with a notarized affidavit of candidacy, and the law calls the two together the candidate's nomination papers. State law sets a minimum number of signatures for each office: from 10 to 75 for city offices, depending on the city, from 10 to 50 for school boards, and 50 for community college boards.

Iowa's regular city and school election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027. Candidates in cities with primary provisions file from Monday, August 9 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, August 26, 2027. All other city candidates, and all school board and community college board candidates, file from Monday, August 23 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 2027. Signatures go on paper, each signer writes a home address and the date, and the candidate signs the affidavit in front of a notary. A 2026 state law moved city and school board filing to the county auditor. Confirm your number, your window and your filing office with your county auditor before you begin.

Every rule below comes from the Iowa Code, cited by section, from the Iowa Secretary of State's 2025 to 2027 election calendar, and from the Secretary of State's candidate guides as published by county auditors.

Who files a nomination petition in Iowa

Every Iowa city holds a regular city election in odd-numbered years, and school boards and community college boards hold their regular election at the same time (Iowa Code 376.1, 277.1, 260C.15). These races are nonpartisan, and candidates for all three reach the ballot by petition:

• City offices, such as mayor and city council. An eligible elector of the city becomes a candidate by filing a valid petition (376.4). Some cities nominate under chapter 45 instead, which also uses petitions (45.1).
• School board directors. "Each candidate shall be nominated by petition" (277.4).
• Community college board directors. A candidate "shall be nominated by a petition signed by not less than fifty eligible electors of the director district" (260C.15).

The Secretary of State's city guide mentions one other route in cities without primary provisions: nomination at a convention of a non-party political organization, with at least 20 eligible electors attending. It is uncommon, and this guide does not cover it. County offices are elected in even-numbered years, so they are not on the 2027 ballot.

A candidate must be an eligible elector of the city, ward or district, which means meeting every requirement to register to vote. The Secretary of State's guides say a candidate does not have to be registered.

Which filing window you are in

Each city's nomination method decides its window (376.4, 376.6). School and community college candidates always use the later window.

Each city clerk certifies the city's method to the county auditor by Wednesday, August 4, 2027, 90 days before the election (based on state law). Ask your city clerk or county auditor which method your city uses well before then, because it also sets your signature number.

How many signatures you need

The minimums below come from the Iowa Code. The sections that set them (376.4, 45.1, 277.4 and 260C.15) state a minimum only.

Two examples, offered only as illustrations: a council candidate in a primary city where 1,500 people voted for the seat last time needs at least 30 signatures, and a school board candidate in a district with 3,000 registered voters needs 30. Ask your county auditor for your exact number. We go through each office, the ward and director district rules, and how to choose a target above the minimum in how many signatures you need to run for office in Iowa.

The 2027 petition calendar

Dates marked "based on state law" are calculated from the Iowa Code and do not appear on an official 2027 candidate calendar we could read, so confirm them with your county auditor.

The withdrawal and objection deadlines are 63 days before the election in primary cities and 42 days before it for everyone else (44.4, 44.9, 277.5, 260C.15). Community college candidates should ask the board secretary how to withdraw.

Iowa sets no first day for collecting signatures. The Secretary of State's city guide says candidates "may begin collecting signatures at any time," but a signature counts only if the signer is still an eligible elector of the city, ward or district when the papers are filed. Signatures gathered many months early can be lost when people move, so most of the work belongs in the weeks before your window.

The nomination papers

Iowa's nomination papers have two parts: the petition and the affidavit of candidacy (45.5). Both are filed together, or they are rejected.

The petition page. Every page is 8.5 by 11 inches, in substantially the form the Secretary of State prescribes. At the top of each page is a candidate header with:

1. a statement identifying the signers as eligible electors of the ward, city, school district or director district, and of Iowa;
2. the candidate's name, as it should appear on the ballot;
3. a statement that the candidate is or will be a resident of the district;
4. the office sought, with the ward or director district number if there is one; and
5. the name and date of the election (45.5).

Signatures on a page count only if this information is written or printed at the top of that page. The state guides also ask for the candidate's county and city of residence and whether the candidate is running to fill a vacancy.

The signer lines. Each line has space for a signature, the signer's home address and the date of signing (376.4, 277.4). Community college signers also write the school district they live in (260C.15).

The affidavit of candidacy. A separate form, signed by the candidate before a notary, giving the candidate's name, home address, county and office, and several statements, including that the candidate will qualify if elected (45.3). Papers are rejected if the affidavit lacks the candidate's name, the office and district, the candidate's signature or the notary's signature (45.5).

We go through each part line by line in filling out and circulating an Iowa nomination petition.

Who can sign

A signer must be an eligible elector of the area the office serves. For a ward seat that only the ward's voters elect, signers must live in the ward when they sign (376.4). For a council seat whose holder must live in a ward but is elected by the whole city, signers may live anywhere in the city. School board and community college seats follow the same idea for director districts (277.4, 260C.15).

Three more rules from the state guides and the Code:

• The candidate may sign. Candidates may sign their own petitions if they are eligible electors of the district.
• People may sign for more than one candidate. A person may sign petitions for more than one candidate for the same office, and the signature is not invalid for that reason (376.4, 277.4, 260C.15).
• The signature may be printed. The state guides say a signer's signature may be printed, and ditto marks alone do not invalidate a line.

Lines that will not be counted

A line is not counted if it lacks the signer's signature or residential address, with street and number, if any, and city. A partial address, a post office box alone, or an address plainly outside the ward, city, school district or director district is also not counted (45.5). A line with any required information crossed out or redacted when filed does not count either. A signer who is homeless may describe where they live or write "homeless," according to the state guides.

The page-level rule matters as much as the line-level ones. A page missing the required header, including a needed ward or director district number, loses every signature on it.

Paper, binding and the notary

Iowa petitions are paper pages. Neither the Iowa Code sections nor the Secretary of State's guides provide for collecting signatures electronically, so plan on paper and pen.

The pages must be "securely fastened together to form a single bundle," and petitions that are not bound are returned without examination (45.5). The state guides suggest staples or a three-ring binder.

The notary requirement applies to the affidavit of candidacy. A notary must be present when the candidate signs it, and once notarized, the affidavit cannot be altered. The Code sections that govern these petitions do not require a notary, or a signed statement from the person who collected the signatures, on the petition pages themselves. Follow the form your county auditor gives you, and complete any section it includes.

Objections: how a petition is challenged

When you file, the filing officer checks your papers for completeness and accepts a petition that, on its face, has enough signatures and is on time (376.4, 277.4). The examiner marks any problems on the papers. Signed petitions and the notarized affidavit may not be altered to fix them. A petition without enough acceptable signatures is rejected and returned, and you may refile, with added pages or a corrected affidavit, only before the filing deadline (45.5).

After filing, any person who could vote for a candidate for the office may file an objection to the legal sufficiency of the petition or to the candidate's eligibility. City objections are due by 5 p.m. on Tuesday, September 21, 2027, or Tuesday, August 31, 2027 in primary cities (44.4). School board objections are due by September 21 (277.5). Under the 2026 law, city and school board objections go to the county auditor and are decided by a county panel of the auditor, the treasurer and the county attorney (44.7). Community college objections go to the college's board secretary by September 21 and are decided by the board president, the secretary and one more director chosen by ballot (260C.15).

Most problems that lead to struck signatures can be prevented while you collect:

• signers who live outside the ward or district;
• addresses with only a post office box, or missing the house number or city;
• missing dates, or community college lines missing the school district;
• pages whose header is incomplete or missing the ward or director district number; and
• pages that were not bound into the filed bundle.

How many signatures to collect above the minimum

Because a line can be struck, you want more than the minimum. The Secretary of State's filing checklist says to file more than the required number, because signatures can be challenged. Size your margin to your risk. A first-time candidate collecting with new volunteers has more reason to aim high than a candidate who collected every line personally. Before filing, you may strike a line you do not want counted by drawing a line through the name, according to the state guides. Our general guide on how many signatures to collect above the minimum was written with Illinois examples, but its way of weighing risk applies in Iowa.

Collecting signatures door to door

Door-to-door collection suits an Iowa petition. When you work from a list of registered voters inside your ward or district, each signature comes from an address you have already placed there, which helps prevent lines from being struck for addresses outside it. A petition visit can also be the first conversation a campaign has with a household that will vote in November.

To turn your target into doors, track two rates over your first few sessions: the share of doors where someone answers, and the share of those people who sign. As an illustration only, if someone answers at about one door in three and about half of them sign, each signature takes about six doors, and a target of 40 signatures points to roughly 240 doors. Replace the illustration with your own numbers as soon as you have them.

A simple plan works well:

1. Ask your county auditor how to obtain a list of registered voters in your ward or district. The Secretary of State's candidate guides also say its Elections Division provides voter lists.
2. Divide the list into turfs (small groups of nearby streets) that one person can cover in a session.
3. Give each volunteer their own petition pages, with the header complete before any voter signs.
4. Record which doors were visited and what happened at each one.
5. Send volunteers back to the doors where no one was home before opening new turf.
6. Collect the pages after each session and check every line while the volunteer still remembers the street.

This is the part of the work that Beacon is built for. Draw each volunteer's turf on the map, inside your ward or district, and assign it. Add your contacts, and when a walk list is downloaded its stops are in walking order by distance. Beacon routes circulators door to door and records which doors were visited and the result at each one: contacted, not home, refused, come back later and the other door codes. At each door, the circulator can note "signed" or "not signed" in the door result's Notes field, and turf completion percentages and the leaderboard show which areas still need work. If a circulator loses signal partway through a shift, the results they enter are queued and sent when the signal returns. The signed paper remains the only legal record of each signature. Every plan includes unlimited canvassers, so adding volunteers does not change your price, and live GPS of canvassers in the field is available on the Growth plan and above.

Our general post on recruiting and training petition circulators uses Illinois examples, but its approach to briefing volunteers works for an Iowa drive too.

Filing day

• Where: city and school board candidates file with the county auditor, under House File 2501, which took effect July 1, 2026. If the city or school district lies in more than one county, file with the auditor of the county with the largest taxable base in it (47.2). Community college candidates file with the secretary of the college's board (260C.15); confirm the office with the board secretary and your county auditor, because older guides show the pre-2026 rules for other offices.
• When: by 5 p.m. on the last day of your window. The county auditor's office stays open until 5 p.m. that day.
• How: in person or by mail. Mailed papers count only if they are received by 5 p.m.; the postmark does not matter.
• What: the affidavit and the bound petition together. There is no fee.

Before you go, review every page: the header, each line's signature, address and date, and the binding. Our general checklist on how to check your petition before filing was written for Illinois, but most of its checks apply to Iowa pages. Make a copy of everything, and file early in your window so you have time to fix a rejected filing.

After you file

Mark the withdrawal and objection deadline for your window and keep your copies at hand. After that, your attention turns to the campaign, and every household your volunteers visited is one you have already met.

One caution applies. A signature on a nomination petition is not permission to text someone. If you want to text supporters later, never add anything to the official petition page; keep a separate sign-up sheet that says plainly the person agrees to receive campaign texts, with a dated line. Only people who agreed in that way should receive texts. CampaignCNX+, a separate texting product, can send those texts, and its guide to running for local office in Iowa covers the campaign after filing.

Frequently asked questions

Can I collect Iowa petition signatures online?

No. Iowa nomination petitions are paper pages that are bound together and filed. Digital tools can help you plan which doors to visit and record which ones you reached, but the signatures go on the paper form.

How many signatures do I need to run for school board in Iowa?

At least 10, or 1 percent of the registered voters in the school district (or in the director district, if only that district's voters elect the seat), whichever is greater. The number never needs to be more than 50 (277.4).

When is the filing deadline for 2027?

5 p.m. on Thursday, August 26, 2027 in cities with primary provisions, and 5 p.m. on Thursday, September 16, 2027 for all other city, school board and community college candidates.

Does an Iowa nomination petition need to be notarized?

The affidavit of candidacy does. The candidate signs it in front of a notary, and papers are rejected if the notary's signature is missing (45.5). The petition pages are signed by the voters and need no notary.

Is there a filing fee?

No. Iowa charges no filing fee for these offices. The petition takes its place.

Plan your Iowa petition drive with Beacon

A strong petition comes from visiting the right doors inside your ward or district and knowing which streets still need a visit. Beacon gives your volunteers turf on a map, walk lists in walking order by distance, and a record of every door's result, with unlimited canvassers on every plan. Start a 14-day trial and have your first turf drawn well before your filing window opens.