HF 129

1st Engrossment - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; requiring an affidavit of 
  1.3             candidacy to include a candidate's residence address; 
  1.4             providing for rejection of an affidavit that shows the 
  1.5             candidate does not reside in the district for which 
  1.6             election is sought; providing for elections of certain 
  1.7             council members in cities of the first class elected 
  1.8             by ward after reapportionment; amending Minnesota 
  1.9             Statutes 2002, sections 204B.06, subdivision 1; 
  1.10            205.84, subdivision 1. 
  1.11  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.12                             ARTICLE 1
  1.13     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 204B.06, 
  1.14  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  1.15     Subdivision 1.  [FORM OF AFFIDAVIT.] (a) An affidavit of 
  1.16  candidacy shall state the name of the office sought and shall 
  1.17  state that the candidate:  
  1.18     (1) is an eligible voter; 
  1.19     (2) has no other affidavit on file as a candidate for any 
  1.20  office at the same primary or next ensuing general election, 
  1.21  except that a candidate for soil and water conservation district 
  1.22  supervisor in a district not located in whole or in part in 
  1.23  Anoka, Hennepin, Ramsey, or Washington county, may also have on 
  1.24  file an affidavit of candidacy for mayor or council member of a 
  1.25  statutory or home rule charter city of not more than 2,500 
  1.26  population contained in whole or in part in the soil and water 
  1.27  conservation district or for town supervisor in a town of not 
  1.28  more than 2,500 population contained in whole or in part in the 
  2.1   soil and water conservation district; and 
  2.2      (3) is, or will be on assuming the office, 21 years of age 
  2.3   or more, and will have maintained residence in the district from 
  2.4   which the candidate seeks election for 30 days before the 
  2.5   general election. 
  2.6      (b) An affidavit of candidacy must include a statement that 
  2.7   the candidate's name as written on the affidavit for ballot 
  2.8   designation is the candidate's true name or the name by which 
  2.9   the candidate is commonly and generally known in the community. 
  2.10     (c) An affidavit of candidacy must state the candidate's 
  2.11  residence address. 
  2.12     (d) An affidavit of candidacy for partisan office shall 
  2.13  also state the name of the candidate's political party or 
  2.14  political principle, stated in three words or less.  
  2.15     (b) (e) This subdivision does not apply to a candidate for 
  2.16  president or vice-president of the United States. 
  2.17                             ARTICLE 2
  2.18     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 205.84, 
  2.19  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.20     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL PROVISIONS.] (a) In a city 
  2.21  electing council members by wards, wards shall be as equal in 
  2.22  population as practicable and each ward shall be composed of 
  2.23  compact, contiguous territory.  Each council member shall be a 
  2.24  resident of the ward for which elected, but, except as otherwise 
  2.25  provided by paragraph (b), a change in ward boundaries does not 
  2.26  disqualify a council member from serving for the remainder of a 
  2.27  term.  
  2.28     (b) Notwithstanding any home rule charter provision to the 
  2.29  contrary, in a city of the first class where council members are 
  2.30  elected by ward to serve for four years to terms that are not 
  2.31  staggered, if the population of any ward varies by five percent 
  2.32  or more from the average for all wards, all council members must 
  2.33  be elected to new terms at the first municipal general election 
  2.34  after ward boundaries are redefined under subdivision 2, 
  2.35  provided, however, that if no municipal general election would 
  2.36  otherwise occur in the year ending in "2," the year ending in 
  3.1   "3," or the year ending in "4" the city must adopt one of the 
  3.2   following options by ordinance or charter amendment: 
  3.3      (1) the city may provide for council members to serve the 
  3.4   remainder of their terms, if the council members serve at large 
  3.5   from the completion of redistricting to the time when their 
  3.6   successors are elected and qualified; or 
  3.7      (2) the city may provide for an election of council members 
  3.8   in the year ending in "2," the year ending in "3," or the year 
  3.9   ending in "4."  An ordinance or charter amendment that provides 
  3.10  for an election under this clause must also address: 
  3.11     (i) whether council members will be elected initially to: 
  3.12     (A) a two-year term followed by two four-year terms; or 
  3.13     (B) a four-year term, a second four-year term, and a 
  3.14  two-year term; and 
  3.15     (ii) whether council members whose terms would otherwise 
  3.16  expire in a year after the year chosen for an election under 
  3.17  this clause will serve at large or from the districts to which 
  3.18  they were elected from the completion of redistricting to the 
  3.19  time when their successors are elected and qualified. 
  3.20     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.21     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.