1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to elections; establishing a nonbinding presidential primary; 
1.3 	appropriating money;proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
1.4 	chapter 207A.
1.5 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.6 	Section 1. [207A.11] PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY.
1.7 	A nonbinding presidential primary must be held on the first Tuesday after the 
1.8 	first Monday in February of each year in which a president and vice president of the 
1.9 	United States are to be nominated and elected. The voters of this state may express their 
1.10 	preference among the candidates of the major political party of their choice for that 
1.11 	party's nomination to be president of the United States or may indicate a preference for 
1.12 	uncommitted delegates to the national party convention. For the purposes of sections 
1.13 	207A.11 to 207A.18, "major political party" or "party" means a major political party as 
1.14 	defined in section 200.02, subdivision 7.

1.15 	Sec. 2. [207A.12] CANDIDATES ON BALLOT.
1.16 		Subdivision 1.Required listing. (a) Any individual who files an affidavit of 
1.17 	candidacy as prescribed by this subdivision, along with a filing fee of $500, must be listed 
1.18 	as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.
1.19 	(b) A candidate who seeks the nomination of a major political party for president of 
1.20 	the United States shall state on the affidavit of candidacy that the candidate is a natural 
1.21 	born citizen of the United States and will have been 14 years a resident within the United 
1.22 	States and attained the age of 35 years on the next January 20.
2.1 	(c) The candidates must be listed on the presidential primary ballot in the order that 
2.2 	the affidavits of candidacy for the candidates were filed with the secretary of state.
2.3 	(d) In addition, the presidential primary ballot must contain a place for a voter 
2.4 	to indicate a preference for having delegates to the party's national convention remain 
2.5 	uncommitted, and a blank line printed below the other choices on the ballot so that a voter 
2.6 	may write in the name of a person who is not listed on the ballot.
2.7 		Subd. 2.Time for filing. The period for filing an affidavit of candidacy for the 
2.8 	presidential primary must begin 16 weeks before the primary and end 14 weeks before the 
2.9 	primary.
2.10 		Subd. 3.Announcement. The determination of which candidates must be listed 
2.11 	on the presidential primary ballot must be made by the secretary of state not later than 
2.12 	eight weeks before the presidential primary. The secretary of state shall certify to the 
2.13 	county auditor of each county the names of all candidates in the presidential primary 
2.14 	at least seven weeks before the primary.

2.15 	Sec. 3. [207A.13] PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY; HOW CONDUCTED.
2.16 	Except as otherwise provided in sections 207A.11 to 207A.18, the presidential 
2.17 	primary must be conducted and the results canvassed and returned in the manner provided 
2.18 	by law for the state primary.

2.19 	Sec. 4. [207A.14] AUDITOR FURNISHED INFORMATION BY SECRETARY 
2.20 	OF STATE; BALLOT PREPARATION.
2.21 		Subdivision 1.Notice of filing period. Twenty weeks before a presidential primary 
2.22 	is to be held, the secretary of state shall provide notice to the county auditor of each 
2.23 	county of the date of the presidential primary. Within ten days after notification by the 
2.24 	secretary of state, each county auditor shall provide notice of the date of the presidential 
2.25 	primary to each municipal clerk in the county.
2.26 		Subd. 2.Notice of primary. At least two weeks before the date of the presidential 
2.27 	primary, each municipal clerk shall post a public notice stating the date of the presidential 
2.28 	primary, the location of each polling place in the municipality, and the hours during which 
2.29 	the polling places in the municipality will be open. The county auditor shall post a similar 
2.30 	notice in the auditor's office with information for any polling places in unorganized 
2.31 	territory in the county. The governing body of a municipality or county may publish the 
2.32 	notice in addition to posting it. Failure to give notice does not invalidate the election.
2.33 		Subd. 3.Ballot preparation. At least ten weeks before the presidential primary, the 
2.34 	secretary of state shall supply each county auditor with examples of ballots, absentee ballot 
3.1 	envelopes, ballot return envelopes, election return envelopes, and summary statements for 
3.2 	use in the presidential primary. Ballots must follow the form required for state primary 
3.3 	elections, as described in sections 204D.04 to 204D.08.

3.4 	Sec. 5. [207A.15] SELECTION OF DELEGATES; NATIONAL CONVENTION 
3.5 	BALLOTING.
3.6 		Subdivision 1.Apportionment of delegates. The delegates to the national 
3.7 	convention of each major political party whose candidates appear on the presidential 
3.8 	primary ballot must be chosen through the caucus and convention procedures as described 
3.9 	in chapter 202A. Caucus and convention participants may, but are not required to, consider 
3.10 	the presidential primary results when selecting delegates to attend the party's national 
3.11 	convention. The secretary of each party's state convention or congressional district 
3.12 	convention shall promptly notify the secretary of state of the names of the delegates to the 
3.13 	national convention chosen as supporters of each presidential candidate.
3.14 		Subd. 2.Delegate votes. At the national convention, delegates chosen because of 
3.15 	their support for a presidential candidate must vote for that candidate on the first ballot, 
3.16 	unless they have been released from that obligation by the candidate. This subdivision 
3.17 	does not apply to delegates to the extent that it is inconsistent with the rules of the national 
3.18 	party or state party.

3.19 	Sec. 6. [207A.16] USE OF VOTING MACHINES.
3.20 	The county auditor of each county shall provide all ballots, ballot labels, ballot cards, 
3.21 	and other necessary printed forms and supplies needed for electronic voting systems. The 
3.22 	total cost of printing and providing the forms must be paid by the state.

3.23 	Sec. 7. [207A.17] RULEMAKING AUTHORITY.
3.24 	The secretary of state shall adopt rules to determine the manner of paying or 
3.25 	reimbursing the costs to the counties of conducting the presidential primary.

3.26 	Sec. 8. [207A.18] REIMBURSEMENT OF ELECTION EXPENSES.
3.27 		Subdivision 1.Duties of secretary of state. The secretary of state shall reimburse 
3.28 	the counties and municipalities for expenses incurred in the administration of the 
3.29 	presidential primary from money appropriated by the legislature for this purpose, as 
3.30 	provided in this section. Up to $7,500 of the appropriation for reimbursement of election 
3.31 	expenses may be retained by the secretary of state to administer the reimbursement 
3.32 	program.
4.1 		Subd. 2.Reimbursable expenses. The following expenses are eligible for 
4.2 	reimbursement: salaries of election judges; postage for absentee ballots; preparation of 
4.3 	polling places, in an amount not to exceed $25 per polling place; preparation of electronic 
4.4 	voting systems, in an amount not to exceed $50 per precinct; compensation of county 
4.5 	canvassing board members; publication of the sample ballot; and compensation for 
4.6 	temporary staff or overtime payments.
4.7 		Subd. 3.Certification of costs. The county auditor shall certify to the secretary 
4.8 	of state the costs incurred by the county for the presidential primary. The municipal 
4.9 	clerk shall certify to the secretary of state the costs incurred by the municipality for the 
4.10 	presidential primary. If the total amount certified by all units for temporary staff and 
4.11 	overtime payments exceeds $480,000, the secretary of state shall reduce those amounts 
4.12 	so that they do not exceed $480,000. The secretary of state shall provide each county 
4.13 	and municipality with the appropriate forms for this certification. The secretary of 
4.14 	state may require that the county auditor or municipal clerk provide documentation of 
4.15 	actual expenditures made for the presidential primary. The certification of costs must be 
4.16 	submitted to the secretary of state no later than 60 days after the presidential primary. 
4.17 	No reimbursement of expenses must be made unless the certification of costs has been 
4.18 	submitted as provided in this subdivision.
4.19 		Subd. 4.Apportionment of reimbursements. If the total amount of requests for 
4.20 	reimbursement of expenses exceeds the total amount appropriated to the secretary of state 
4.21 	for this purpose, the secretary of state shall proportionately reduce the reimbursements so 
4.22 	that they do not exceed the amount appropriated.

4.23 	Sec. 9. APPROPRIATION.
 4.24 	$....... is appropriated from the general fund to the secretary of state to pay the 
4.25 	costs of conducting the presidential primary, to be available for the fiscal year ending 
4.26 	June 30, 2008.