<div class="xtend">
         <div class="xtend_ce"><a id="pl.1.1"></a><var>1.1</var>A bill for an act<br />
            		
         </div><a id="pl.1.2"></a><var>1.2</var>relating to elections; appropriating money for grants to counties for voting <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.3"></a><var>1.3</var>equipment and vote-counting equipment; specifying grant terms and procedures; <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.4"></a><var>1.4</var>repealing an appropriation;repealing Laws 2005, chapter 162, section 34, <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.5"></a><var>1.5</var>subdivision 2, as amended.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.6"></a><var>1.6</var>BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:<br />
         		<br />
         		<a id="bill.0.1.0"></a><a id="pl.1.7"></a><var>1.7</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Section 1. <b>APPROPRIATIONS; ASSISTIVE VOTING EQUIPMENT AND </b><br />
         		<a id="pl.1.8"></a><var>1.8</var><b>VOTE-COUNTING EQUIPMENT.</b><br />
         		<a id="pl.1.9"></a><var>1.9</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subdivision 1. <b>Operating grants.</b> $300,000 is appropriated from the Help America <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.10"></a><var>1.10</var>Vote Act account to the secretary of state for grants to counties to defray operating costs of <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.11"></a><var>1.11</var>the assistive voting equipment and vote-counting equipment in each polling place. Grants <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.12"></a><var>1.12</var>of up to $300 per polling place may be made until this appropriation is exhausted. If the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.13"></a><var>1.13</var>grant requests exceed the appropriation available, the secretary of state shall prorate the <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.14"></a><var>1.14</var>grant amounts to each eligible county to match the amount available.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.15"></a><var>1.15</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 2. <b>Grant application.</b> To receive a grant under this subdivision, a county <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.16"></a><var>1.16</var>must apply to the secretary of state on forms prescribed by the secretary of state that <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.17"></a><var>1.17</var>set forth how the grant money will be spent. Grant applications for operating costs for <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.18"></a><var>1.18</var>the 2010 elections must be received by the secretary of state by August 1, 2010. Grant <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.19"></a><var>1.19</var>awards must be made to the counties by December 1, 2010. If funds remain from this <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.20"></a><var>1.20</var>appropriation, the secretary may also make grants available for the 2012 election, with <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.21"></a><var>1.21</var>grant applications due by March 1, 2012, and grants made to counties by June 30, 2012.<br />
         		<a id="pl.1.22"></a><var>1.22</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 3. <b>Eligibility.</b> To be eligible to apply for a grant under this section, a county <br />
         		<a id="pl.1.23"></a><var>1.23</var>must have fewer than 50,000 registered voters as of January 1, 2010, and must have <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.1"></a><var>2.1</var>less than $300 per polling place that was used in the 2008 general election as a balance, <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.2"></a><var>2.2</var>including any interest earned on the account, in its Help America Vote Act account from <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.3"></a><var>2.3</var>funds distributed to it in 2005.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.4"></a><var>2.4</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 4. <b>Report.</b> Each county receiving a grant under this section must include <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.5"></a><var>2.5</var>the expenditures it has made on the appropriate Help America Vote Act reports submitted <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.6"></a><var>2.6</var>to the secretary of state. If a county does not use the funds it has received under this <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.7"></a><var>2.7</var>section by June 30, 2013, it must return the funds to the secretary of state. In addition <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.8"></a><var>2.8</var>to the report required by this section, each county receiving a grant under this act must <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.9"></a><var>2.9</var>maintain financial records for each grant sufficient to satisfy federal audit standards and <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.10"></a><var>2.10</var>must transmit those records to the secretary of state upon request of the secretary of state.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.11"></a><var>2.11</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 5. <b>Operating costs.</b> "Operating costs" include actual county and municipal <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.12"></a><var>2.12</var>costs for hardware maintenance, election day technical support, software licensing, system <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.13"></a><var>2.13</var>programming, voting system testing, training of county or municipal staff in the use of <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.14"></a><var>2.14</var>voting equipment, and transportation of and storage of the voting equipment.<br />
         		<br />
         		<a id="bill.0.2.0"></a><a id="pl.2.15"></a><var>2.15</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sec. 2. <b>APPROPRIATIONS; OPTICAL SCAN EQUIPMENT.</b><br />
         		<a id="pl.2.16"></a><var>2.16</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subdivision 1. <b>Optical scan voting equipment grants.</b> $2,100,000 is appropriated <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.17"></a><var>2.17</var>from the Help America Vote Act account to the secretary of state for grants to counties to <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.18"></a><var>2.18</var>purchase optical scan voting equipment.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.19"></a><var>2.19</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 2. <b>Grant application.</b> To receive a grant under this section, a county must <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.20"></a><var>2.20</var>apply to the secretary of state on forms prescribed by the secretary of state that set forth <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.21"></a><var>2.21</var>how the grant money will be spent. Applications for grants under this section must be <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.22"></a><var>2.22</var>submitted to the secretary of state by December 1, 2010, and be for purchases made prior <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.23"></a><var>2.23</var>to March 31, 2014. Any funds granted to a county and not spent by June 30, 2014, must <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.24"></a><var>2.24</var>be returned to the secretary of state and the Help America Vote Act account.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.25"></a><var>2.25</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 3. <b>Eligibility.</b> A county is eligible to apply for a grant of up to $4,000 per <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.26"></a><var>2.26</var>precinct to replace precinct-based optical scan vote counters if the vote counter was <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.27"></a><var>2.27</var>purchased prior to December 31, 2002, and the county received no federal or state funds <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.28"></a><var>2.28</var>to defray the cost of that purchase. Counties must agree to provide a 50 percent match for <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.29"></a><var>2.29</var>any state and federal funds granted through this grant application.<br />
         		<a id="pl.2.30"></a><var>2.30</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Subd. 4. <b>Report.</b> Each county receiving a grant under this section must include <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.31"></a><var>2.31</var>the expenditures it has made on the appropriate Help America Vote Act reports submitted <br />
         		<a id="pl.2.32"></a><var>2.32</var>to the secretary of state. If a county does not use the funds it has received under this <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.1"></a><var>3.1</var>section by June 30, 2014, it must return the funds to the secretary of state. In addition <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.2"></a><var>3.2</var>to the report required by this section, each county receiving a grant under this act must <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.3"></a><var>3.3</var>maintain financial records for each grant sufficient to satisfy federal audit standards and <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.4"></a><var>3.4</var>must transmit those records to the secretary of state upon request of the secretary of state.<br />
         		<br />
         		<a id="bill.0.3.0"></a><a id="pl.3.5"></a><var>3.5</var>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Sec. 3. <b> REPEALER.</b><br />
         		<a id="pl.3.6"></a><var>3.6</var>Laws 2005, chapter 162, section 34, subdivision 2, as amended by Laws 2009, <br />
         		<a id="pl.3.7"></a><var>3.7</var>chapter 101, article 2, section 95, is repealed.<br />
         		
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