1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; providing for a voter's guide; 
  1.3             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.4             section 204B.27, by adding a subdivision. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 204B.27, is 
  1.7   amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 11.  [VOTER'S GUIDE.] (a) At least 21 days before the 
  1.9   state primary and the state general election, the secretary of 
  1.10  state shall mail a voter's guide to every household in the 
  1.11  state.  The voter's guide must include the following information:
  1.12     (1) general voter information including:  requirements for 
  1.13  voter eligibility; procedures for voter registration; day and 
  1.14  date of election and hours to vote; information on how to find 
  1.15  the location of the voter's correct polling place; information 
  1.16  on procedures for obtaining application forms for voting by 
  1.17  absentee ballot; information on assistance available to persons 
  1.18  with disabilities and the right to time off from work to vote; 
  1.19  maps of election districts and telephone numbers of state and 
  1.20  county election officials; information about the Minnesota 
  1.21  political contribution refund program; and street address, 
  1.22  telephone number, and Web site for the campaign finance and 
  1.23  public disclosure board; 
  1.24     (2) political party information including:  name of each 
  1.25  political party that has a candidate on the ballot in any 
  2.1   partisan state or federal race; summary of each party's basic 
  2.2   purpose, written and authorized by the party and 250 words or 
  2.3   less in length; and mailing address, telephone number, and Web 
  2.4   site of each state party headquarters; 
  2.5      (3) elected office information including:  each state and 
  2.6   federal office to which candidates are to be nominated or 
  2.7   elected at the current election; requirements and procedures to 
  2.8   get on the ballot for each office; eligibility requirements and 
  2.9   salary for each office; duties and responsibilities of each 
  2.10  office; length of term for each office and number of terms 
  2.11  allowed; street address, telephone number, and Web site of the 
  2.12  office (if available); and name of current office holder and 
  2.13  number of terms served; 
  2.14     (4) for all state and federal offices, candidate 
  2.15  information including:  candidates listed in alphabetical order 
  2.16  after the description of the office they are seeking; 
  2.17  biographical information on each candidate provided by the 
  2.18  candidate, not to exceed 50 words, and including political party 
  2.19  affiliation (if running for partisan office), date of birth, 
  2.20  number of years living in Minnesota, current city of residence, 
  2.21  current occupation, occupational background, educational 
  2.22  background, experience with civic organizations, awards, and 
  2.23  prior government experience; candidate photo if provided by 
  2.24  candidate; candidate statement for partisan offices only, if 
  2.25  provided by the candidate and not to exceed 250 words; and 
  2.26  address, phone number, and Web site for candidate's campaign; 
  2.27  and 
  2.28     (5) proposed constitutional amendment information including:
  2.29  requirements and procedures to get an amendment on the ballot; 
  2.30  summary of each proposed amendment written by the chief house 
  2.31  and senate authors of the legislation proposing the amendment 
  2.32  and not to exceed 100 words; estimated cost of proposed 
  2.33  amendment determined by independent financial analyst secured by 
  2.34  the secretary of state; one statement in favor of and one 
  2.35  statement against the amendment, not to exceed 250 words, and 
  2.36  names of individuals or organizations writing or supporting 
  3.1   those arguments; and the full text of the proposed amendment.  
  3.2   To obtain arguments for and against an amendment the secretary 
  3.3   of state shall request such arguments from the public 120 days 
  3.4   before the general election.  The amendment's legislative 
  3.5   authors may write a statement in support of their amendment, or 
  3.6   may select from those submitted to the secretary of state.  The 
  3.7   secretary of state shall select the most persuasive statement 
  3.8   against the amendment. 
  3.9      (b) The secretary of state or county auditor shall provide 
  3.10  each person filing an affidavit of candidacy for state or 
  3.11  federal office with blank forms and instructions to be used by 
  3.12  the candidates to submit information for the voter's guide.  
  3.13  Candidates must submit information for the voter's guide to the 
  3.14  secretary of state no later than six weeks before the state 
  3.15  primary election.  The secretary of state shall not edit any of 
  3.16  the material submitted by a candidate.  The secretary of state 
  3.17  shall provide the candidates an opportunity to review their own 
  3.18  submitted material before publication. 
  3.19     (c) The secretary of state must reject and immediately 
  3.20  return to the candidate any statement which exceeds the word 
  3.21  limit provided in this subdivision or which contains obscene or 
  3.22  defamatory language, or contains any language that may not be 
  3.23  legally circulated through the mail.  No later than five 
  3.24  business days after the rejection of any material submitted by a 
  3.25  candidate, an appeal of the decision of the secretary of state 
  3.26  may be made to the board of review.  The board of review shall 
  3.27  consist of one member appointed by each of the following:  the 
  3.28  governor, speaker of the house, house minority leader, senate 
  3.29  majority leader, and senate minority leader.  The decision of 
  3.30  the board in any appeal made as provided in this subdivision is 
  3.31  final.  Nothing in this section exempts the author of the 
  3.32  material submitted to the secretary of state from any civil or 
  3.33  criminal action for defamation or fraud.  The person writing, 
  3.34  signing, or offering a statement to the secretary of state is 
  3.35  deemed its author and publisher. 
  3.36     Sec. 2.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  4.1      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  4.2   secretary of state to implement section 1 to be available until 
  4.3   June 30, 2003.