1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; allowing mail balloting in 
  1.3             certain elections in additional cities and towns; 
  1.4             requiring the presidential primary to be conducted by 
  1.5             mail on the same date as precinct caucuses; moving the 
  1.6             date of precinct caucuses to the last Tuesday in 
  1.7             February; amending Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 
  1.8             202A.14, subdivision 1; 204B.45, subdivision 1; 
  1.9             207A.02, subdivision 1a; 207A.03, by adding a 
  1.10            subdivision; 207A.06, subdivision 2; 207A.08; and 
  1.11            207A.09; Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  1.12            207A.01; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.13            Statutes, chapter 207A. 
  1.14  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.15     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 202A.14, 
  1.16  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.17     Subdivision 1.  [TIME AND MANNER OF HOLDING; POSTPONEMENT.] 
  1.18  At 7:00 p.m. on the first last Tuesday in March February in 
  1.19  every state general election year there shall be held for every 
  1.20  election precinct a party caucus in the manner provided in 
  1.21  sections 202A.14 to 202A.19, except that in the event of severe 
  1.22  weather a major political party may request the secretary of 
  1.23  state to postpone caucuses.  If a major political party makes a 
  1.24  request, or upon the secretary of state's own initiative, after 
  1.25  consultation with all major political parties and on the advice 
  1.26  of the federal weather bureau and the department of 
  1.27  transportation, the secretary of state may declare precinct 
  1.28  caucuses to be postponed for a week in counties where weather 
  1.29  makes travel especially dangerous.  The secretary of state shall 
  2.1   submit a notice of the postponement to news media covering the 
  2.2   affected counties by 6:00 p.m. on the scheduled day of the 
  2.3   caucus.  A postponed caucus may also be postponed pursuant to 
  2.4   this subdivision. 
  2.5      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 204B.45, 
  2.6   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.7      Subdivision 1.  [AUTHORIZATION.] Any statutory or home rule 
  2.8   charter city or town having fewer than 400 1,000 registered 
  2.9   voters on June 1 of an election year and not located in a 
  2.10  metropolitan county as defined by section 473.121 may provide 
  2.11  balloting by mail at any city, county, or state election with no 
  2.12  polling place other than the office of the auditor or clerk.  
  2.13  The governing body may apply to the county auditor for 
  2.14  permission to conduct balloting by mail.  The county board may 
  2.15  provide for balloting by mail in unorganized territory. 
  2.16     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1995 Supplement, section 
  2.17  207A.01, is amended to read: 
  2.18     207A.01 [PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY.] 
  2.19     A presidential primary must be held on the first Tuesday in 
  2.20  April of same day as the day precinct caucuses are held under 
  2.21  section 202A.14, subdivision 1, in each year after 1999 in which 
  2.22  a president and vice president of the United States are to be 
  2.23  nominated and elected, at which the voters of this state may 
  2.24  express their preference among the candidates of the major 
  2.25  political party of their choice, for that party's nomination to 
  2.26  be president of the United States or may vote for uncommitted 
  2.27  delegates to the national party convention.  For the purposes of 
  2.28  sections 207A.01 to 207A.07 207A.09, "political party" or 
  2.29  "party" means a political party as defined in section 200.02, 
  2.30  subdivision 7.  
  2.31     Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.02, 
  2.32  subdivision 1a, is amended to read: 
  2.33     Subd. 1a.  [TIME FOR FILING; FEE.] The period for filing an 
  2.34  affidavit of candidacy for the presidential primary must begin 
  2.35  16 weeks before the primary and end 14 weeks before the 
  2.36  primary.  The filing fee is $500 $1,000.  The period for signing 
  3.1   nominating petitions must begin 16 weeks before the primary and 
  3.2   end ten weeks before the primary. 
  3.3      Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.03, is 
  3.4   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  3.5      Subd. 3.  [COSTS.] The secretary of state shall pay the 
  3.6   costs related to the conduct of the presidential primary.  The 
  3.7   county auditor shall document costs incurred by the county and 
  3.8   shall report these costs in the manner provided by the secretary 
  3.9   of state.  The secretary of state shall reimburse the county for 
  3.10  the costs incurred in the administration of the presidential 
  3.11  primary. 
  3.12     Sec. 6.  [207A.05] [EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURES.] 
  3.13     Subdivision 1.  [PROCESSING VOTING MATERIALS.] The 
  3.14  secretary of state may authorize the use of computers and 
  3.15  related equipment for the processing of election materials and 
  3.16  the counting of ballots on an experimental basis.  
  3.17     Subd. 2.  [FORMS.] The secretary of state may develop 
  3.18  special forms for mailing enclosures, ballots, and other printed 
  3.19  materials required for the presidential primary on an 
  3.20  experimental basis.  
  3.21     Subd. 3.  [POLLING PLACES.] The secretary of state, in 
  3.22  cooperation with the county auditors, may designate experimental 
  3.23  polling places where voters from one or more counties may vote 
  3.24  in the presidential primary.  Experimental voting procedures for 
  3.25  polling places established as provided in this section may be 
  3.26  used, as provided in the rules of the secretary of state.  Any 
  3.27  costs incurred as a result of establishment of polling places 
  3.28  under this subdivision must be paid by the secretary of state.  
  3.29     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.06, 
  3.30  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  3.31     Subd. 2.  [CHOSEN DELEGATES.] Delegates to the national 
  3.32  convention of each political party appearing on the presidential 
  3.33  primary ballot must be chosen by the state convention or 
  3.34  congressional district convention of that party, except as 
  3.35  otherwise provided in this subdivision.  The secretary of each 
  3.36  party's state convention or congressional district convention 
  4.1   shall promptly notify the secretary of state of the names of the 
  4.2   delegates to the national convention chosen as supporters of 
  4.3   each presidential candidate and the names of the candidates to 
  4.4   which the delegates have been apportioned by July 1 of each year 
  4.5   in which a presidential primary is held.  A state political 
  4.6   party whose apportionment of delegates does not conform to the 
  4.7   results of the presidential primary ceases to be eligible for 
  4.8   the ten-percent political party checkoff in section 10A.31, 
  4.9   subdivision 5, clause (6), and ceases to be eligible to issue 
  4.10  political contribution refund receipt forms under section 
  4.11  290.06, subdivision 23, until it notifies the secretary of state 
  4.12  of an apportionment that does conform to the results of the 
  4.13  presidential primary.  
  4.14     Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.08, is 
  4.15  amended to read: 
  4.16     207A.08 [INFORMATION ON PARTY CHOICE.] 
  4.17     Notwithstanding section 204C.18, subdivision 1, or other 
  4.18  law to the contrary, a person entitled to inspect the duplicate 
  4.19  registration file or receive a copy of a current precinct the 
  4.20  public information list under section 201.091 must also be 
  4.21  informed of indicate the party choice of any voter who voted in 
  4.22  the most recent presidential primary under this chapter. 
  4.23     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.09, is 
  4.24  amended to read: 
  4.25     207A.09 [RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.] 
  4.26     The secretary of state shall adopt rules to implement the 
  4.27  provisions of this chapter as follows: 
  4.28     (1) to implement section sections 207A.01 to 207A.08; 
  4.29     (2) to determine a method for verifying the signatures on 
  4.30  nominating petitions and petitions in place of filing fees for 
  4.31  the presidential primary; 
  4.32     (3) to determine the format of the presidential primary 
  4.33  ballots; and 
  4.34     (4) to determine the manner of paying or reimbursing the 
  4.35  costs to the counties of conducting the presidential primary.