1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; allowing towns to rotate names 
  1.3             of candidates on town ballots; amending Minnesota 
  1.4             Statutes 1996, section 205.17, subdivision 1. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 205.17, 
  1.7   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [SECOND, THIRD, AND FOURTH CLASS CITIES; 
  1.9   TOWNS.] In all statutory and home rule charter cities of the 
  1.10  second, third and fourth class, and in all towns, for the 
  1.11  municipal general election, the municipal clerk shall have 
  1.12  printed on light green paper the official ballot containing the 
  1.13  names of all candidates for municipal offices.  The ballot shall 
  1.14  be printed in blocks of 50, shall be headed "City or Town 
  1.15  Election Ballot,"  shall state the name of the city or town and 
  1.16  the date of the election, and shall conform in other respects to 
  1.17  the white ballot used at the state general election.  The names 
  1.18  shall be arranged on city ballots in the manner provided for the 
  1.19  state elections.  On town ballots names of the candidates for 
  1.20  each office shall be arranged either: 
  1.21     (1) alphabetically according to the candidates' surnames; 
  1.22  or 
  1.23     (2) in the manner provided for state elections if the town 
  1.24  electors chose at the town's annual meeting to arrange the names 
  1.25  in that way for at least two consecutive years.