54.1 Time of election--qualifications.

At the general election in the years of the presidential election, or at such other times as the Congress of the United States may direct, there shall be elected by the voters of the state one person from each congressional district into which the state is divided, and two from the state at large, as electors of president and vice president, no one of whom shall be a person holding the office of senator or representative in Congress, or any office of trust or profit under the United States.

54.2 How elected.

A vote for the candidates of any political party, or group of petitioners, for president and vice president of the United States, shall be conclusively deemed to be a vote for each candidate nominated in each district and in the state at large by said party, or group of petitioners, for presidential electors and shall be so counted and recorded for such electors.

54.3 Canvass.

The canvass of the votes for candidates for president and vice president of the United States and the returns thereof shall be a canvass and return of the votes cast for the electors of the same party or group of petitioners, respectively, and the certificate of such election made by the governor shall be in accord with such return.

54.4 Nonparty organizations.

The term "group of petitioners" as used in this chapter shall embrace an organization which is not a political party as defined by law.

54.5 Presidential nominees.

The names of the candidates for president and vice president of a political party as defined in the law relating to primary elections, shall, by five o'clock p.m. on the eighty-first day before the election, be certified to the state commissioner by the chairperson and secretary of the state central committee of the party.

However, if the national nominating convention of a political party adjourns later than eighty-nine days before the general election the certificate showing the names of that party's candidates for president and vice president shall be filed within five days after adjournment.

As an alternative to the certificate by the state central committee, the certificate of nomination issued by the political party's national nominating convention may be used to certify the names of the party's candidates for president and vice president. If certificates of nomination are received from both the state central committee and the national nominating convention of a political party, and there are differences between the two certificates, the certificate filed by the state central committee shall prevail.

The state central committee shall also file a list of the names and addresses of the party's presidential electors, one from each congressional district and two from the state at large, not later than five o'clock p.m. on the eighty-first day before the general election.

If a candidate for the office of president or vice president of the United States withdraws, dies, or is otherwise removed from the ballot before the general election, another candidate may be substituted. The substitution shall be made by the state central committee of the political party or by the governing committee of the national party. If there are differences, the substitution made by the state central committee shall prevail. A nonparty political organization which has filed the names of party officers and central committee members with the secretary of state before the close of the filing period for the general election pursuant to section 44.17 may also make substitutions. A substitution must be filed no later than seventy-four days before the election.

54.6 Certificate.

At the expiration of ten days from the completed canvass, the governor, under the governor's hand and the seal of state, shall issue to each presidential elector declared elected a certificate of election, the same in substance as required in other cases, and shall notify the elector to attend at the seat of government on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following election, reporting the elector's attendance to the governor. If there be a contest of the election, no certificate shall issue until it is determined.

54.7 Meeting--certificate.

The presidential electors shall meet in the capitol, at the seat of government, on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December next following their election. If, at the time of such meeting, any elector for any cause is absent, those present shall at once proceed to elect, from the citizens of the state, a substitute elector or electors, and certify the choice so made to the governor, and the governor shall immediately cause the person or persons so selected to be notified thereof.

54.8 Certificate of governor.

When so met, the said electors shall proceed, in the manner pointed out by law, with the election, and the governor shall duly certify the result thereof, under the seal of the state, to the United States secretary of state, and as required by Act of Congress relating to such elections.

54.9 Compensation.

The electors shall each receive a compensation of five dollars for every day's attendance, and the same mileage as members of the general assembly which shall be paid from funds not otherwise appropriated from the general fund of the state.