HF 397

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; providing for the election of 
  1.3             state legislators without party designation; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1998, sections 10A.27, subdivision 
  1.5             4; 10A.275, subdivision 3; 10A.31, subdivision 5; 
  1.6             10A.325; 204D.08, subdivisions 4 and 6; and 204D.13, 
  1.7             subdivision 1; repealing Minnesota Statutes 1998, 
  1.8             section 10A.315. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 10A.27, 
  1.11  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 4.  [DEFINITION OF POLITICAL PARTY.] For the purposes 
  1.13  of this section, a political party means the aggregate of the 
  1.14  party organization within each house of the legislature, the 
  1.15  state party organization, and the party organization within 
  1.16  congressional districts, counties, legislative districts, 
  1.17  municipalities, and precincts. 
  1.18     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 10A.275, 
  1.19  subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
  1.20     Subd. 3.  [PARTY UNIT.] For purposes of this section, 
  1.21  "party unit" means the party organization within each house of 
  1.22  the legislature; the state party organization; or the party 
  1.23  organization within a congressional district, county, 
  1.24  legislative district, municipality, or precinct. 
  1.25     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 10A.31, 
  1.26  subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
  1.27     Subd. 5.  [ALLOCATION TO CANDIDATES.] In each calendar year 
  2.1   the money in the general account shall be allocated to 
  2.2   candidates as follows: 
  2.3      (1) 21 percent for the offices of governor and lieutenant 
  2.4   governor together; 
  2.5      (2) 3.6 percent for the office of attorney general; 
  2.6      (3) 1.8 percent each for the offices of secretary of state, 
  2.7   state auditor, and state treasurer; 
  2.8      (4) In each calendar year during the period in which state 
  2.9   senators serve a four-year term, 23-1/3 percent for the office 
  2.10  of state senator, and 46-2/3 percent for the office of state 
  2.11  representative; 
  2.12     (5) In each calendar year during the period in which state 
  2.13  senators serve a two-year term, 35 percent each for the offices 
  2.14  of state senator and state representative. 
  2.15     In each calendar year the money in each party account shall 
  2.16  be allocated as follows: 
  2.17     (1) 14 ... percent for the offices of governor and 
  2.18  lieutenant governor together; 
  2.19     (2) 2.4 ... percent for the office of attorney general; 
  2.20     (3) 1.2 ... percent each for the offices of secretary of 
  2.21  state, state auditor, and state treasurer; 
  2.22     (4) In each calendar year during the period in which state 
  2.23  senators serve a four-year term, 23-1/3 percent for the office 
  2.24  of state senator, and 46-2/3 percent for the office of state 
  2.25  representative; 
  2.26     (5) In each calendar year during the period in which state 
  2.27  senators serve a two-year term, 35 percent each for the offices 
  2.28  of state senator and state representative; 
  2.29     (6) Ten percent for the state committee of a political 
  2.30  party; money allocated to each state committee under this clause 
  2.31  must be deposited in a separate account and must be spent for 
  2.32  only those items enumerated in section 10A.275; money allocated 
  2.33  to a state committee under this clause must be paid to the 
  2.34  committee by the state treasurer as notified by the state 
  2.35  campaign finance and public disclosure board as it is received 
  2.36  in the account on a monthly basis, with payment on the 15th day 
  3.1   of the calendar month following the month in which the returns 
  3.2   were processed by the department of revenue, provided that these 
  3.3   distributions would be equal to 90 percent of the amount of 
  3.4   money indicated in the department of revenue's weekly unedited 
  3.5   reports of income tax returns and property tax refund returns 
  3.6   processed in the month, as notified by the department of revenue 
  3.7   to the state campaign finance and public disclosure board.  The 
  3.8   amounts paid to each state committee are subject to biennial 
  3.9   adjustment and settlement at the time of each certification 
  3.10  required of the commissioner of revenue under subdivisions 7 and 
  3.11  10.  If the total amount of payments received by a state 
  3.12  committee for the period reflected on a certification by the 
  3.13  department of revenue is different from the amount that should 
  3.14  have been received during the period according to the 
  3.15  certification, each subsequent monthly payment must be increased 
  3.16  or decreased to the fullest extent possible until the amount of 
  3.17  the overpayment is recovered or the underpayment is distributed. 
  3.18     To assure that moneys will be returned to the counties from 
  3.19  which they were collected, and to assure that the distribution 
  3.20  of those moneys rationally relates to the support for particular 
  3.21  parties or for particular candidates within legislative 
  3.22  districts, money from the party accounts for legislative 
  3.23  candidates shall be distributed as follows: 
  3.24     Each candidate for the state senate and state house of 
  3.25  representatives whose name is to appear on the ballot in the 
  3.26  general election shall receive money from the candidate's party 
  3.27  account set aside for candidates of the state senate or state 
  3.28  house of representatives, whichever applies, according to the 
  3.29  following formula; 
  3.30     For each county within the candidate's district the 
  3.31  candidate's share of the dollars allocated in that county to the 
  3.32  candidate's party account and set aside for that office shall be:
  3.33     (a) The sum of the votes cast in the last general election 
  3.34  in that part of the county in the candidate's district for all 
  3.35  candidates of that candidate's party (i) whose names appeared on 
  3.36  the ballot in each voting precinct of the state and (ii) for the 
  4.1   state senate and state house of representatives, divided by 
  4.2      (b) The sum of the votes cast in that county in the last 
  4.3   general election for all candidates of that candidate's party 
  4.4   (i) whose names appeared on the ballot in each voting precinct 
  4.5   in the state and (ii) for the state senate and state house of 
  4.6   representatives, multiplied by 
  4.7      (c) The amount in the candidate's party account allocated 
  4.8   in that county and set aside for the candidates for the office 
  4.9   for which the candidate is running. 
  4.10     The sum of all the county shares calculated in the formula 
  4.11  above is the candidate's share of the candidate's party account. 
  4.12     In a year in which an election for the state senate occurs, 
  4.13  with respect to votes for candidates for the state senate only, 
  4.14  "last general election" means the last general election in which 
  4.15  an election for the state senate occurred. 
  4.16     For any party under whose name no candidate's name appeared 
  4.17  on the ballot in each voting precinct in the state in the last 
  4.18  general election, amounts in the party's account shall be 
  4.19  allocated based on (a) the number of people voting in the last 
  4.20  general election in that part of the county in the candidate's 
  4.21  district, divided by (b) the number of the people voting in that 
  4.22  county in the last general election, multiplied by (c) the 
  4.23  amount in the candidate's party account allocated in that county 
  4.24  and set aside for the candidates for the office for which the 
  4.25  candidate is running. 
  4.26     In a year in which the first election after a legislative 
  4.27  reapportionment is held, "the candidate's district" means the 
  4.28  newly drawn district, and voting data from the last general 
  4.29  election will be applied to the area encompassing the newly 
  4.30  drawn district notwithstanding that the area was in a different 
  4.31  district in the last general election. 
  4.32     If in a district there was no candidate of a party for the 
  4.33  state senate or state house of representatives in the last 
  4.34  general election, or if a candidate for the state senate or 
  4.35  state house of representatives was unopposed, the vote for that 
  4.36  office for that party shall be the average vote of all the 
  5.1   remaining candidates of that party in each county of that 
  5.2   district whose votes are included in the sums in clauses (a) and 
  5.3   (b).  The average vote shall be added to the sums in clauses (a) 
  5.4   and (b) before the calculation is made for all districts in the 
  5.5   county. 
  5.6      Money from a party account not distributed to candidates 
  5.7   for state senator and representative in any election year shall 
  5.8   be returned to the general fund of the state.  Money from a 
  5.9   party account not distributed to candidates for other offices in 
  5.10  an election year shall be returned to the party account for 
  5.11  reallocation to candidates as provided in clauses (1) to (6) (4) 
  5.12  in the following year.  Money from the general account refused 
  5.13  by any candidate shall be distributed to all other qualifying 
  5.14  candidates in proportion to their shares as provided in this 
  5.15  subdivision.  
  5.16     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 10A.325, is 
  5.17  amended to read: 
  5.18     10A.325 [POLITICAL PARTY NOT HAVING CERTAIN CANDIDATES.] 
  5.19     If money has been accumulated in the state elections 
  5.20  campaign fund for the candidates of a political party, and the 
  5.21  party does not have a candidate in a general election for the 
  5.22  office of state senator or state representative, the party 
  5.23  account money allocated for the office for which there is no 
  5.24  candidate must be returned to the general fund of the state.  If 
  5.25  that party does not have a candidate in a general election for 
  5.26  any state constitutional office, the party account money 
  5.27  allocated for that office must be transferred to the state 
  5.28  general account of the state elections campaign fund for 
  5.29  reallocation to all of the candidate offices as provided in 
  5.30  section 10A.31, subdivision 5, and for distribution in that 
  5.31  election year to candidates as provided in section 10A.31, 
  5.32  subdivision 7.  
  5.33     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 204D.08, 
  5.34  subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  5.35     Subd. 4.  [STATE PARTISAN PRIMARY BALLOT; PARTY COLUMNS.] 
  5.36  The state partisan primary ballot shall be headed by the words 
  6.1   "State Partisan Primary Ballot."  The ballot shall be printed on 
  6.2   white paper.  There must be at least three vertical columns on 
  6.3   the ballot and each major political party shall have a separate 
  6.4   column headed by the words ".......... Party," giving the party 
  6.5   name.  Above the party names, the following statement shall be 
  6.6   printed.  
  6.7      "Minnesota Election Law permits you to vote for the 
  6.8   candidates of only one political party in a state partisan 
  6.9   primary election." 
  6.10     If there are only two major political parties to be listed 
  6.11  on the ballot, one party must occupy the left-hand column, the 
  6.12  other party must occupy the right-hand column, and the center 
  6.13  column must contain the following statement:  
  6.14     "Do not vote for candidates of more than one party."  
  6.15     The names of the candidates seeking the nomination of each 
  6.16  major political party shall be listed in that party's column.  
  6.17  If only one individual files an affidavit of candidacy seeking 
  6.18  the nomination of a major political party for an office, the 
  6.19  name of that individual shall be placed on the state partisan 
  6.20  primary ballot at the appropriate location in that party's 
  6.21  column.  
  6.22     In each column, the candidates for senator in Congress 
  6.23  shall be listed first, candidates for representative in Congress 
  6.24  second, candidates for state senator third, candidates for state 
  6.25  representative fourth and then candidates for state office in 
  6.26  the order specified by the secretary of state.  
  6.27     The party columns shall be substantially the same in width, 
  6.28  type, and appearance.  The columns shall be separated by a 
  6.29  12-point solid line. 
  6.30     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 204D.08, 
  6.31  subdivision 6, is amended to read: 
  6.32     Subd. 6.  [STATE AND COUNTY NONPARTISAN PRIMARY BALLOT.] 
  6.33  The state and county nonpartisan primary ballot shall be headed 
  6.34  "State and County Nonpartisan Primary Ballot."  It shall be 
  6.35  printed on canary paper.  The names of candidates for nomination 
  6.36  to the state senate, the state house of representatives, the 
  7.1   supreme court, court of appeals, district court, and all county 
  7.2   offices shall be placed on this ballot.  
  7.3      No candidate whose name is placed on the state and county 
  7.4   nonpartisan primary ballot shall be designated or identified as 
  7.5   the candidate of any political party or in any other manner 
  7.6   except as expressly provided by law.  
  7.7      Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 204D.13, 
  7.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  7.9      Subdivision 1.  [ORDER OF OFFICES.] The candidates for 
  7.10  partisan offices shall be placed first on the white ballot and 
  7.11  shall appear in the following order:  senator in Congress shall 
  7.12  be first; and representative in Congress, second; state senator, 
  7.13  third; and state representative, fourth.  The candidates for 
  7.14  state offices shall follow in the order specified by the 
  7.15  secretary of state.  Candidates for governor and lieutenant 
  7.16  governor shall appear so that a single vote may be cast for both 
  7.17  offices. 
  7.18     Sec. 8.  [REPEALER.] 
  7.19     Minnesota Statutes 1998, section 10A.315, is repealed. 
  7.20     Sec. 9.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  7.21     Sections 1 to 8 are effective for state legislators elected 
  7.22  in 2000 and thereafter.