1.1 	A bill for an act
1.2 	relating to elections; establishing a presidential primary;amending Minnesota 
1.3 	Statutes 2006, sections 202A.14, subdivision 1; 202A.18, subdivision 2a; 
1.4 	202A.19, by adding a subdivision; 202A.192; 204C.10; proposing coding for 
1.5 	new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 202A.
1.6 	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

1.7 	Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 202A.14, subdivision 1, is amended to 
1.8 	read:
1.9 		Subdivision 1.Time and manner of holding; postponement. (a) At 7:00 p.m. on 
1.10 	the first Tuesday in March in every state general election year that is not a presidential 
1.11 	election year there shall be held for every election precinct a party caucus in the manner 
1.12 	provided in sections 202A.14 to 202A.19, except that in the event of severe weather 
1.13 	a major political party may request the secretary of state to postpone caucuses. If a 
1.14 	major political party makes a request, or upon the secretary of state's own initiative, after 
1.15 	consultation with all major political parties and on the advice of the federal Weather 
1.16 	Bureau and the Department of Transportation, the secretary of state may declare precinct 
1.17 	caucuses to be postponed for a week in counties where weather makes travel especially 
1.18 	dangerous. The secretary of state shall submit a notice of the postponement to news 
1.19 	media covering the affected counties by 6:00 p.m. on the scheduled day of the caucus. A 
1.20 	postponed caucus may also be postponed pursuant to this subdivision. 
1.21 	(b) In every presidential election year, the party caucus shall be held on the date 
1.22 	of the presidential primary, except that the caucus may be postponed as provided in 
1.23 	paragraph (a).

1.24 	Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 202A.18, subdivision 2a, is amended to read:
2.1 		Subd. 2a.Preference ballot. Prior to the opening of nominations for the election of 
2.2 	permanent offices and delegates, a ballot must be distributed to permit caucus participants 
2.3 	to indicate their preference for the offices of president of the United States or office of
2.4 	governor. The results of preference voting must be reported to the secretary of state 
2.5 	immediately upon conclusion of the voting, in the manner provided by the secretary of 
2.6 	state. The secretary of state shall provide the appropriate forms to the party for reporting 
2.7 	the results.

2.8 	Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 202A.19, is amended by adding a subdivision 
2.9 	to read:
2.10 		Subd. 7.Section not to apply; when. This section does not apply to a major party 
2.11 	caucus held on a day other than the day prescribed by section 202A.14, subdivision 1.

2.12 	Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 202A.192, is amended to read:
2.13 	202A.192 USE OF PUBLIC FACILITIES.
2.14 	Every statutory city, home rule charter city, county, town, school district, and other 
2.15 	public agency, including the University of Minnesota and other public colleges and 
2.16 	universities, shall make their facilities available for the holding of precinct caucuses held 
2.17 	on the day prescribed by section 202A.14, subdivision 1, and for legislative district or 
2.18 	county conventions required by this chapter. A charge for the use of the facilities may be 
2.19 	imposed in an amount that does not exceed the lowest amount charged to any public or 
2.20 	private group.

2.21 	Sec. 5. [202A.81] PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY.
2.22 		Subdivision 1.Presidential years. In each year in which a president and vice 
2.23 	president of the United States are to be nominated and elected, a presidential primary must 
2.24 	be held as provided in sections 202A.81 to 202A.88. The voters of this state may express 
2.25 	their preference among the candidates of the major political party of their choice for that 
2.26 	party's nomination to be president of the United States or may indicate a preference for 
2.27 	uncommitted delegates to the national party convention. 
2.28 		Subd. 2.Date. The date of the presidential primary must be set by the secretary 
2.29 	of state in consultation with the major political parties in accordance with the following 
2.30 	limitations, with the goal of creating a Midwest regional primary:
2.31 	(a) The date must be no earlier than the date of the first presidential primary or 
2.32 	caucus held in more than one state in the Midwest, defined as the states lying entirely west 
3.1 	of Pennsylvania, north of Arkansas, and east of Wyoming, and no later than five weeks 
3.2 	after that date.
3.3 	(b) The secretary of state must announce the date of the presidential primary no 
3.4 	later than:
3.5 	(1) one day after the date has been finally established for the first presidential 
3.6 	primary or caucus in the Midwest; and
3.7 	(2) eleven weeks before the date set for the presidential primary.

3.8 	Sec. 6. [202A.82] CANDIDATES ON BALLOT.
3.9 		Subdivision 1.Required listing. (a) Any individual who files with the secretary of 
3.10 	state an affidavit of candidacy as prescribed by this subdivision, along with a filing fee of 
3.11 	$500, must be listed as a candidate on the presidential primary ballot.
3.12 	(b) A candidate who seeks the nomination of a major political party for president of 
3.13 	the United States shall state on the affidavit of candidacy that the candidate is a natural 
3.14 	born citizen of the United States and will have been 14 years a resident within the United 
3.15 	States and attained the age of 35 years on the next January 20.
3.16 	(c) The candidates must be listed on the presidential primary ballot in the order that 
3.17 	the affidavits of candidacy for the candidates were filed with the secretary of state.
3.18 	(d) In addition, the presidential primary ballot must contain a place for a voter 
3.19 	to indicate a preference for having delegates to the party's national convention remain 
3.20 	uncommitted, and a blank line printed below the other choices on the ballot so that a voter 
3.21 	may write in the name of a person who is not listed on the ballot.
3.22 		Subd. 2.Time for filing. The period for filing with the secretary of state an affidavit 
3.23 	of candidacy for the presidential primary must begin ten weeks before the primary and end 
3.24 	eight weeks before the primary.
3.25 		Subd. 3.Announcement. The determination of which candidates must be listed 
3.26 	on the presidential primary ballot must be made by the secretary of state not later than 
3.27 	seven weeks before the presidential primary. The secretary of state shall certify to the 
3.28 	county auditor of each county the names of all candidates in the presidential primary at 
3.29 	least six weeks before the primary.

3.30 	Sec. 7. [202A.83] PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY; HOW CONDUCTED.
3.31 	Except as otherwise provided in sections 202A.81 to 202A.88, the presidential 
3.32 	primary must be conducted and the results canvassed and returned in the manner provided 
3.33 	by law for the state primary.

4.1 	Sec. 8. [202A.84] AUDITOR FURNISHED INFORMATION BY SECRETARY 
4.2 	OF STATE; BALLOT PREPARATION.
4.3 		Subdivision 1.Notice of filing period. Within one day after setting the date of the 
4.4 	presidential primary under section 202A.81, the secretary of state shall provide notice of 
4.5 	the date to the county auditor of each county. Within ten days after notification by the 
4.6 	secretary of state, each county auditor shall provide notice of the date to each municipal 
4.7 	clerk in the county.
4.8 		Subd. 2.Notice of primary. At least two weeks before the date of the presidential 
4.9 	primary, each municipal clerk shall post a public notice stating the date of the presidential 
4.10 	primary, the location of each polling place in the municipality, and the hours during which 
4.11 	the polling places in the municipality will be open. The county auditor shall post a similar 
4.12 	notice in the auditor's office with information for any polling places in unorganized 
4.13 	territory in the county. The governing body of a municipality or county may publish the 
4.14 	notice in addition to posting it. Failure to give notice does not invalidate the election.
4.15 		Subd. 3.Ballot preparation. At least six weeks before the presidential primary, the 
4.16 	secretary of state shall supply each county auditor with examples of ballots, absentee ballot 
4.17 	envelopes, ballot return envelopes, election return envelopes, and summary statements for 
4.18 	use in the presidential primary. Ballots must follow the form required for state primary 
4.19 	elections, as described in sections 204D.04 to 204D.08.

4.20 	Sec. 9. [202A.85] SELECTION OF DELEGATES; NATIONAL CONVENTION 
4.21 	BALLOTING.
4.22 	The delegates to the national convention of each major political party whose 
4.23 	candidates appear on the presidential primary ballot must be chosen through the caucus 
4.24 	and convention procedures as described in this chapter. By July 1 of each year in which a 
4.25 	presidential primary is held, the secretary of each party's state convention or congressional 
4.26 	district convention shall notify the secretary of state of the names of the delegates to the 
4.27 	national convention chosen and the names of the candidates to which the delegates have 
4.28 	been apportioned. Except for candidates who have notified the political party that they are 
4.29 	no longer a candidate, a political party whose apportionment of delegates does not provide 
4.30 	to each candidate at least as great a proportion of delegates to the national convention as 
4.31 	the proportion of votes the candidate received in the presidential primary ceases to be 
4.32 	eligible for the ten percent political party checkoff in section 10A.31, subdivision 5, 
4.33 	paragraph (b), clause (6), and ceases to be eligible to issue political contribution refund 
4.34 	receipt forms under section 290.06, subdivision 23, during the remainder of that year.

5.1 	Sec. 10. [202A.88] REIMBURSEMENT OF ELECTION EXPENSES.
5.2 		Subdivision 1.Duties of secretary of state. The secretary of state shall reimburse 
5.3 	the counties and municipalities for expenses incurred in the administration of the 
5.4 	presidential primary from money appropriated by the legislature for this purpose, as 
5.5 	provided in this section. Up to $7,500 of the appropriation for reimbursement of election 
5.6 	expenses may be retained by the secretary of state to administer the reimbursement 
5.7 	program.
5.8 		Subd. 2.Reimbursable expenses. The following expenses are eligible for 
5.9 	reimbursement: preparation and printing of ballots; postage for absentee ballots; 
5.10 	publication of the sample ballot; preparation of polling places, in an amount not to exceed 
5.11 	$25 per polling place; preparation of electronic voting systems, in an amount not to exceed 
5.12 	$50 per precinct; compensation for temporary staff or overtime payments; salaries of 
5.13 	election judges; and compensation of county canvassing board members.
5.14 		Subd. 3.Certification of costs. Within 60 days after the presidential primary, the 
5.15 	county auditor shall submit to the secretary of state a request for payment of the costs 
5.16 	incurred by the county for the presidential primary, and the municipal clerk shall submit 
5.17 	to the secretary of state a request for payment of the costs incurred by the municipality 
5.18 	for the presidential primary. The request for payment must be accompanied by an 
5.19 	itemized description of actual county or municipal expenditures, including copies of 
5.20 	invoices. In addition, the county auditor or municipal clerk must certify that the request 
5.21 	for reimbursement is based on actual costs incurred by the county or municipality in the 
5.22 	presidential primary. The secretary of state shall provide each county and municipality 
5.23 	with the appropriate forms for this certification. The secretary of state must not reimburse 
5.24 	expenses unless the certification of costs has been submitted as provided in this 
5.25 	subdivision. The secretary of state shall complete the issuance of reimbursements to the 
5.26 	counties and municipalities no later than 90 days after the presidential primary.
5.27 		Subd. 4.Limit on payments. If the total amount certified by all units for temporary 
5.28 	staff and overtime payments exceeds $480,000, the secretary of state shall reduce those 
5.29 	amounts so that they do not exceed $480,000. 
5.30 		Subd. 5.Apportionment of reimbursements. If the total amount of requests from 
5.31 	all counties and municipalities for reimbursement of expenses exceeds the total amount 
5.32 	appropriated to the secretary of state for this purpose, the secretary of state shall apportion 
5.33 	the reimbursements to the counties and municipalities on the basis of the number of 
5.34 	persons in each jurisdiction registered to vote at 7:00 a.m. on the day of the presidential 
5.35 	primary as a fraction of the total number of persons registered to vote in the state at that 
5.36 	time in jurisdictions that request reimbursement.

6.1 	Sec. 11. Minnesota Statutes 2006, section 204C.10, is amended to read:
6.2 	204C.10 PERMANENT REGISTRATION; VERIFICATION OF 
6.3 	REGISTRATION.
6.4 	(a) An individual seeking to vote shall sign a polling place roster which states 
6.5 	that the individual is at least 18 years of age, a citizen of the United States, has resided 
6.6 	in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding the election, maintains residence at 
6.7 	the address shown, is not under a guardianship in which the court order revokes the 
6.8 	individual's right to vote, has not been found by a court of law to be legally incompetent to 
6.9 	vote or has the right to vote because, if the individual was convicted of a felony, the felony 
6.10 	sentence has expired or been completed or the individual has been discharged from the 
6.11 	sentence, is registered and has not already voted in the election. The roster must also state: 
6.12 	"I understand that deliberately providing false information is a felony punishable by not 
6.13 	more than five years imprisonment and a fine of not more than $10,000, or both."
6.14 	At the presidential primary, the polling place roster must also state: "I am in 
6.15 	agreement with the principles of the party for whose candidate I intend to vote, and I 
6.16 	either voted or affiliated with the party at the last state general election or intend to vote or 
6.17 	affiliate with the party at the next state general election."
6.18 	(b) A judge may, before the applicant signs the roster, confirm the applicant's name, 
6.19 	address, and date of birth.
6.20 	(c) After the applicant signs the roster, the judge shall give the applicant a voter's 
6.21 	receipt. The voter shall deliver the voter's receipt to the judge in charge of ballots as proof 
6.22 	of the voter's right to vote, and thereupon the judge shall hand to the voter the ballot. The 
6.23 	voters' receipts must be maintained during the time for notice of filing an election contest.