HF 1489

as introduced - 87th Legislature (2011 - 2012) Posted on 04/14/2011 11:22am

A bill for an act
relating to elections; requiring certain notices; providing an affirmative defense;
eliminating certain duties and requirements; creating a working group; requiring
a report; amending Minnesota Statutes 2010, sections 201.054, by adding a
subdivision; 201.155; 201.275; repealing Minnesota Statutes 2010, section
201.157.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 201.054, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Affirmative defense. new text end

new text begin It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution for
violation of subdivision 2, paragraph (a), that:
new text end

new text begin (1) the individual requested, in writing, that the county auditor of the county in
which the individual resides withdraw the individual's registration;
new text end

new text begin (2) the individual has not voted under the registration; and
new text end

new text begin (3) the request to withdraw was made before any complaint was filed charging
the violation.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 201.155, is amended to read:

201.155 REPORT deleted text begin ON FELONY CONVICTIONS deleted text end new text begin OF CONVICTED FELONS
UNDER COUNTY SUPERVISION; NOTICE new text end .

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Notice of voting rights status. new text end

deleted text begin Pursuant to the Help America Vote
Act of 2002, Public Law 107-252, the state court administrator shall report regularly by
electronic means to the secretary of state the name, address, date of birth, and, if available,
driver's license or state identification card number, date of sentence, effective date of the
sentence, and county in which the conviction occurred of each person who has been
convicted of a felony. The state court administrator shall also report the name, address,
and date of birth of each person previously convicted of a felony whose civil rights have
been restored. The secretary of state shall determine if any of the persons in the report is
registered to vote and shall prepare a list of those registrants for each county auditor. The
county auditor shall change the status of those registrants in the appropriate manner in
the statewide registration system.
deleted text end

new text begin The corrections official for each county shall provide documented notice of voting
rights status to each person serving a felony sentence who is under the county's supervision
or was under the county's supervision at any time during the prior year. The notice must
be provided not later than 18 weeks before the first Tuesday after the first Monday in
November of each year. The notice must be provided to:
new text end

new text begin (1) persons who are scheduled to remain on probation through the general election;
new text end

new text begin (2) persons who are scheduled to complete probation and be restored to their civil
rights after the notice is sent but before the next general election; and
new text end

new text begin (3) persons who have completed probation and have had their civil rights restored
in the last year.
new text end

new text begin The notice must include an email address and telephone number to contact the county
corrections official and the appropriate county auditor.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Inactive record; notice. new text end

new text begin The county corrections official shall forward to
the secretary of state an electronic list of persons who were notified under this section.
The secretary of state shall compare the names on the list with records in the statewide
registration system and forward the names of voters for whom there is a match to the
county auditor of the county where the person is registered to vote. If a person received
notice under subdivision 1, clause (1) or (2), the county auditor shall change the voter's
status to inactive and shall send the person notice of the action. A voter affected by this
action may appeal the decision to make the voter's record inactive by written request to
the county auditor no later than 28 days after the date of the notice to the voter. If a
person received notice under subdivision 1, clause (3), the county auditor shall remove the
challenge from the person's voting record.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Ineligible voters; investigation. new text end

new text begin Within 16 weeks after the general
election, the secretary of state shall compare the list of persons who received notice under
subdivision 1, clause (1), with the list of persons who voted in the primary or general
election and forward names of those persons who both voted in the primary or general
election and received the notice provided in subdivision 1, clause (1), to the appropriate
county attorney for investigation. No later than March 1 of each year, the secretary of state
shall report to the chairs of the house and senate committees with jurisdiction over election
law on the number of persons who both received the notice provided in subdivision 1,
clause (1), and voted in the subsequent primary or general election.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Best practices working group on voting rights. new text end

new text begin The secretary of state
shall chair and convene a working group to develop and distribute to all county auditors,
county attorneys, and county corrections officials, forms to be used and related best
practices on the following:
new text end

new text begin (1) notice to convicted felons appearing on voter registration applications;
new text end

new text begin (2) notice to convicted felons appearing on polling place rosters;
new text end

new text begin (3) notice to convicted felons at polling places;
new text end

new text begin (4) notice to felons at the time of conviction;
new text end

new text begin (5) notice to felons of loss of the right to vote in sentencing forms, probation
agreements, and other criminal justice system documents; and
new text end

new text begin (6) procedures for accurately resolving questions concerning the eligibility of
persons serving felony sentences.
new text end

new text begin The working group must include the secretary of state, the commissioner of corrections
or the commissioner's designee, the state court administrator or the administrator's
designee, one corrections representative designated by the Minnesota Association of
County Probation Officers, one corrections representative designated by the Minnesota
Association of Community Corrections Act Counties, two county auditors designated by
the Minnesota Association of County Auditors and Treasurers, one from a metropolitan
area and one from greater Minnesota, and two county attorney representatives designated
by the Minnesota County Attorneys Association, one from a metropolitan area and one
from greater Minnesota.
new text end

new text begin By January 15, 2012, the working group shall submit a report outlining its work
to the chairs and ranking minority members of the house and senate committees with
jurisdiction over criminal justice and election policy and finance.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 201.275, is amended to read:

201.275 INVESTIGATIONS; PROSECUTIONS.

deleted text begin A county attorney who is notified by affidavit of an alleged violation of this chapter deleted text end new text begin
Law enforcement new text end shall promptly investigate new text begin alleged violations of this chapter new text end . If there
is probable cause for instituting a prosecution, the county attorney shall proceed deleted text begin by
complaint or present the charge, with whatever evidence has been found, to the grand jury.
A county attorney who refuses or intentionally fails to faithfully perform this or any other
duty imposed by this chapter is guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction shall forfeit
office. The county attorney, under the penalty of forfeiture of office, shall prosecute all
violations of this chapter except violations of this section; if, however, a complainant
withdraws an allegation under this chapter, the county attorney is not required to proceed
with the prosecution deleted text end new text begin in accordance with the American Bar Association Criminal Justice
Section standards regarding the prosecution function new text end .

Sec. 4. new text begin REPEALER.
new text end

new text begin Minnesota Statutes 2010, section 201.157, new text end new text begin is repealed.
new text end