HF 1685

as introduced - 83rd Legislature (2003 - 2004) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; allowing military and overseas 
  1.3             voters to receive and return absentee ballots by 
  1.4             facsimile; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes, chapter 203B. 
  1.6   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.7      Section 1.  [203B.082] [USE OF FACSIMILE BALLOTS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [ELIGIBILITY.] An eligible voter described 
  1.9   in section 203B.16, subdivision 1, clause (1), may vote by an 
  1.10  electronically transmitted facsimile ballot as provided in this 
  1.11  section. 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [APPLICATION.] Upon receipt of a properly 
  1.13  completed application, the county auditor may send the voter the 
  1.14  appropriate ballots and a ballot transmission form using an 
  1.15  electronic facsimile device.  The ballot transmission form must 
  1.16  provide space for the voter's name, address, signature, and date 
  1.17  of birth, the date on which the ballots were transmitted by the 
  1.18  voter, and a statement acknowledging that the voter's ballots 
  1.19  will not be secret.  
  1.20     The ballot transmission form for a person residing outside 
  1.21  the United States must contain the affidavit required by section 
  1.22  203B.21, subdivision 3.  The secretary of state shall prepare 
  1.23  samples of the ballot transmission form for use by the county 
  1.24  auditor.  
  1.25     Subd. 3.  [RETURN.] The voter may return the voted ballots 
  2.1   to the county auditor using an electronic facsimile device.  If 
  2.2   an electronic facsimile device is used, the voter must also 
  2.3   complete and return the ballot transmission form.  The voted 
  2.4   ballots and ballot transmission form must be submitted to the 
  2.5   county auditor by 3:00 p.m. on election day.  Upon receipt of an 
  2.6   electronically transmitted ballot, the county auditor shall 
  2.7   immediately compare the information provided on the absentee 
  2.8   ballot application with the information provided on the ballot 
  2.9   transmission form.  No record of the votes cast by the voter may 
  2.10  be made.  After the information on the ballot transmission form 
  2.11  has been verified, the ballots must be sealed in a ballot 
  2.12  secrecy envelope.  The ballot transmission form must be attached 
  2.13  to the ballot secrecy envelope and placed with the other 
  2.14  absentee ballots for the precinct in which the voter resides.  
  2.15  The county auditor shall certify that the ballots were properly 
  2.16  enclosed in the ballot secrecy envelope, that no record of the 
  2.17  votes cast on the ballots was made, and that the auditor will 
  2.18  not disclose for whom the voter has voted. 
  2.19     Subd. 4.  [REJECTION.] If the county auditor cannot verify 
  2.20  that the ballots were transmitted by the same person who 
  2.21  submitted the absentee ballot application, the ballots must be 
  2.22  rejected and no votes on the ballots may be counted.