HF 2050

as introduced - 80th Legislature (1997 - 1998) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to education; making certain changes 
  1.3             affecting school district election procedures; 
  1.4             amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 205A.13. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 205A.13, is 
  1.7   amended to read: 
  1.8      205A.13 [REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITIONS.] 
  1.9      Any petition to a school board authorized in this chapter 
  1.10  or sections 124.226, 124.2716, 124.91, 124.912, 124.914, 
  1.11  124.916, 124.918, and 124A.03, or any other law which requires 
  1.12  the board to submit an issue to referendum or election, shall 
  1.13  meet the following requirements to be valid.  
  1.14     (1) Each page of the petition shall contain a heading at 
  1.15  its top which specifies the particular action the board is being 
  1.16  petitioned to take.  The signatures on any page which does not 
  1.17  contain such a heading shall all be invalidated.  All pages of 
  1.18  the petition shall be assembled and filed with the board as a 
  1.19  single instrument.  
  1.20     (2) Each page of the petition shall contain an 
  1.21  authentication signed by the circulator of the petition 
  1.22  specifying as follows:  
  1.23     "I personally have circulated this page of the petition.  
  1.24  All signatures were made in my presence.  I believe that the 
  1.25  signers signed their own names and that each person who has 
  2.1   signed is eligible to vote in a school district election 
  2.2   according to Minnesota election law.  
  2.3      Signed:  ................................ Signature of 
  2.4   Petition Circulator 
  2.5      Date:  ................................." 
  2.6      The signatures on any page which does not contain such an 
  2.7   authentication shall all be invalidated.  
  2.8      (3) Signers of the petition shall personally sign their own 
  2.9   names in ink or indelible pencil and shall indicate after the 
  2.10  name the place of residence by street and number, or other 
  2.11  description sufficient to identify the place.  Except as 
  2.12  provided in clause (4), any signature which does not meet these 
  2.13  requirements shall be invalidated.  
  2.14     (4) Individuals who are unable to write their names shall 
  2.15  be required to make their marks on the petition.  The circulator 
  2.16  of the petition shall certify the mark by signing the 
  2.17  individual's name and address and shall thereafter print the 
  2.18  phrase "mark certified by petition circulator."  
  2.19     (5) A petition, to be valid, must contain the minimum 
  2.20  number of valid signatures of eligible voters specified in the 
  2.21  law authorizing the petition and election.  
  2.22     (6) A circulator of the petition or any other person 
  2.23  involved in the petition process must be an eligible voter in 
  2.24  the school district.  The signatures on any page circulated by 
  2.25  an ineligible voter are invalid. 
  2.26     (7) No circulator of the petition, and no signer of any 
  2.27  such petition, or any other person involved in the petition 
  2.28  process, shall accept or offer any reward, pecuniary or 
  2.29  otherwise, for service rendered in connection with the 
  2.30  circulation of a petition.  Any violation of this section is a 
  2.31  misdemeanor. 
  2.32     (8) Within 30 days of filing the petition, the board 
  2.33  secretary shall determine the number of eligible voters whose 
  2.34  signatures are on the petition, the minimum number of signatures 
  2.35  required to certify the petition, and whether the petition is 
  2.36  irregular in any manner.  If the board secretary finds the 
  3.1   number insufficient or the petition irregular in any manner, the 
  3.2   board secretary shall at once notify the circulators of the 
  3.3   petition of that fact, certifying the reasons for the findings.  
  3.4   The circulators then have ten working days in which to file 
  3.5   additional signatures or to correct the petition in all other 
  3.6   particulars.  The board secretary then has ten additional 
  3.7   working days to examine the corrected petition.  If at the end 
  3.8   of that period the board secretary still finds the petition to 
  3.9   be insufficient or irregular, the board secretary shall file 
  3.10  that information with the school board and shall notify each 
  3.11  circulator of the petition of the filing.  The final finding of 
  3.12  the insufficiency or irregularity of a petition shall not 
  3.13  prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose, nor 
  3.14  shall it prevent the school board from referring the measure to 
  3.15  voters at its option. 
  3.16     Sec. 2.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  3.17     Section 1 is effective the day following final enactment.