1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to elections; regulating interpreter services; modifying certain 
1.3 	requirements for communicatively impaired individuals;amending Minnesota 
1.4 	Statutes 2004, sections 202A.155; 204C.15, subdivision 1.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 202A.155, is amended to read:
1.7 	202A.155 INTERPRETER SERVICES; CAUCUS MATERIALS.
1.8 	A communicatively impaired individual who needs interpreter services at a precinct 
1.9 	caucus shall so notify the major political party whose caucus the individual plans to 
1.10 	attend. Written Notice must be given by certifiedletter or electronic  mail to the county 
1.11 	or legislative district committeestate office  of the major political party at least 30 days
1.12 	before the precinct caucus date. The major political party, not later than 14 days before 
1.13 	the precinct caucus date, shall promptly attempt to secure the services of one or more 
1.14 	interpreters if available and shall assume responsibility for the cost of the services if 
1.15 	provided. The state central committee of the major political party shall determine the 
1.16 	process for reimbursing interpreters.
1.17 	A visually impaired individual may notify the county or legislative district 
1.18 	committee of the major political party whose precinct caucus the individual plans to 
1.19 	attend, that the individual requires caucus materials in audio tape, Braille, or large type 
1.20 	format. Upon receiving the request, the county or legislative district committee shall 
1.21 	provide all official written caucus materials as soon as they are available, so that the 
1.22 	visually impaired individual may have them converted to audio tape, Braille, or large 
1.23 	print format prior to the precinct caucus.

2.1 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 204C.15, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
2.2 		Subdivision 1.Interpreters; physical assistance in marking ballots. A voter who 
2.3 	claims a need for assistance because of inability to read English or physical inability to 
2.4 	mark a ballot may obtain the aid of two election judges who are members of different 
2.5 	major political parties. The election judges shall mark the ballots as directed by the voter 
2.6 	and in as secret a manner as circumstances permit. If the voter is deaf or cannot speak 
2.7 	English or understand it when it is spoken, the election judges may select two individuals 
2.8 	who are members of different major political parties to act as interpreters provide 
2.9 	assistance. The interpreters shall assist the individual in marking the ballots. A voter in 
2.10 	need of assistance may alternatively obtain the assistance of any individual the voter 
2.11 	chooses. Only the following persons may not provide assistance to a voter: the voter's 
2.12 	employer, an agent of the voter's employer, an officer or agent of the voter's union, or 
2.13 	a candidate for election. The person who assists the voter shall, unaccompanied by an 
2.14 	election judge, retire with that voter to a booth and mark the ballot as directed by the voter. 
2.15 	No person who assists another voter as provided in the preceding sentence shall mark the 
2.16 	ballots of more than three voters at one election. Before the ballots are deposited, the 
2.17 	voter may show them privately to an election judge to ascertain that they are marked as 
2.18 	the voter directed. An election judge or other individual assisting a voter shall not in any 
2.19 	manner request, persuade, induce, or attempt to persuade or induce the voter to vote for 
2.20 	any particular political party or candidate. The election judges or other individuals who 
2.21 	assist the voter shall not reveal to anyone the name of any candidate for whom the voter 
2.22 	has voted or anything that took place while assisting the voter.