HF 760

as introduced - 79th Legislature (1995 - 1996) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to elections; providing that elections be 
  1.3             held in a consecutive two-day period; amending 
  1.4             Minnesota Statutes 1994, sections 200.02, subdivision 
  1.5             2, and by adding a subdivision; 204D.03; 205.065, 
  1.6             subdivision 1; 205.07, subdivision 1; 205.075; 
  1.7             205A.03, subdivision 2; 205A.04, subdivision 1; and 
  1.8             207A.01. 
  1.9   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.10     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 200.02, 
  1.11  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.12     Subd. 2.  [GENERAL ELECTION.] "General election" means an 
  1.13  election held at regular intervals on a day over a period of two 
  1.14  consecutive days determined by law or charter at which the 
  1.15  voters of the state or any of its subdivisions choose by ballot 
  1.16  public officials or presidential electors.  
  1.17     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 200.02, is 
  1.18  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.19     Subd. 22.  [ELECTION DAY.] "Election day" means the day or 
  1.20  the period of two consecutive days when an election is held. 
  1.21     Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 204D.03, is 
  1.22  amended to read: 
  1.23     204D.03 [TIME OF STATE ELECTIONS.] 
  1.24     Subdivision 1.  [STATE PRIMARY.] The state primary shall be 
  1.25  held on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in 
  1.26  September and the first Tuesday after it in each even-numbered 
  1.27  year to select the nominees of the major political parties for 
  2.1   partisan offices and the nominees for nonpartisan offices to be 
  2.2   filled at the state general election, other than presidential 
  2.3   electors.  
  2.4      Subd. 2.  [STATE GENERAL ELECTION.] The state general 
  2.5   election shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first 
  2.6   Monday in November and the first Tuesday after it in each 
  2.7   even-numbered year.  
  2.8      Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205.065, 
  2.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHING PRIMARY.] A municipal primary 
  2.11  for the purpose of nominating elective officers may be held in 
  2.12  any city on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in 
  2.13  September and the first Tuesday after it of any year in which a 
  2.14  municipal general election is to be held for the purpose of 
  2.15  electing officers. 
  2.16     Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205.07, 
  2.17  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.18     Subdivision 1.  [DATE OF ELECTION.] The municipal general 
  2.19  election in each city shall be held on the first Tuesday after 
  2.20  the first Monday in November and the first Tuesday after it in 
  2.21  every even-numbered year.  Notwithstanding any provision of law 
  2.22  to the contrary and subject to the provisions of this section, 
  2.23  the governing body of a city may, by ordinance passed at a 
  2.24  regular meeting held before June 1 of any year, elect to hold 
  2.25  the election on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 
  2.26  November and the first Tuesday after it in each odd-numbered 
  2.27  year.  When a city changes its elections from one year to 
  2.28  another, and does not provide for the expiration of terms by 
  2.29  ordinance, the term of an incumbent expiring at a time when no 
  2.30  municipal election is held in the months immediately prior to 
  2.31  expiration is extended until the date for taking office 
  2.32  following the next scheduled municipal election.  If the change 
  2.33  results in having three council members to be elected at a 
  2.34  succeeding election, the two individuals receiving the highest 
  2.35  vote shall serve for terms of four years and the individual 
  2.36  receiving the third highest number of votes shall serve for a 
  3.1   term of two years.  To provide an orderly transition to the odd 
  3.2   or even year election plan, the governing body of the city may 
  3.3   adopt supplementary ordinances regulating initial elections and 
  3.4   officers to be chosen at the elections and shortening or 
  3.5   lengthening the terms of incumbents and those elected at the 
  3.6   initial election so as to conform as soon as possible to the 
  3.7   regular schedule provided in section 412.02, subdivision 1.  
  3.8   Whenever the time of the municipal election is changed, the city 
  3.9   clerk immediately shall notify in writing the county auditor and 
  3.10  secretary of state of the change of date.  Thereafter the 
  3.11  municipal general election shall be held on the first Tuesday 
  3.12  after the first Monday in November and the first Tuesday after 
  3.13  it in each odd-numbered or even-numbered year until the 
  3.14  ordinance is revoked and notification of the change is made. 
  3.15     Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205.075, is 
  3.16  amended to read: 
  3.17     205.075 [TOWN GENERAL ELECTION.] 
  3.18     Subdivision 1.  [DATE OF ELECTION.] The general election in 
  3.19  a town must be held on the second Tuesday in March and the 
  3.20  Monday preceding it, except as provided in subdivision 2. 
  3.21     Subd. 2.  [ALTERNATE DATE; METROPOLITAN TOWNS.] The 
  3.22  governing body of a town located in the metropolitan area as 
  3.23  defined by section 473.121 may, by resolution or ordinance, 
  3.24  designate the first Tuesday after the first Monday in 
  3.25  November and the first Tuesday after it of either the 
  3.26  even-numbered or the odd-numbered year as the date of the town 
  3.27  general election.  Town supervisors elected at a November town 
  3.28  general election shall serve four-year terms. 
  3.29     The ordinance or resolution changing the date of the town 
  3.30  general election must include a plan to shorten or lengthen the 
  3.31  terms of office to provide an orderly transition to the November 
  3.32  election schedule.  
  3.33     The ordinance or resolution changing the date of the town 
  3.34  general election is effective upon an affirmative vote of the 
  3.35  voters of the town at the next town general election. 
  3.36     Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205A.03, 
  4.1   subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  4.2      Subd. 2.  [DATE.] The school district primary must be held 
  4.3   on the first Tuesday after the second Monday in September and 
  4.4   the first Tuesday after it in the year when the school district 
  4.5   general election is held.  The clerk shall give notice of the 
  4.6   primary in the manner provided in section 205A.07. 
  4.7      Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 205A.04, 
  4.8   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  4.9      Subdivision 1.  [SCHOOL DISTRICT GENERAL ELECTION.] The 
  4.10  general election in each school district must be held on the 
  4.11  first Tuesday after the first Monday in November and the first 
  4.12  Tuesday after it of either the odd-numbered or the even-numbered 
  4.13  year.  
  4.14     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1994, section 207A.01, is 
  4.15  amended to read: 
  4.16     207A.01 [PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY.] 
  4.17     A presidential primary must be held on the Monday preceding 
  4.18  the first Tuesday in April and the first Tuesday in April of 
  4.19  each year in which a president and vice president of the United 
  4.20  States are to be nominated and elected, at which the voters of 
  4.21  this state may express their preference among the candidates of 
  4.22  the major political party of their choice, for that party's 
  4.23  nomination to be president of the United States or may vote for 
  4.24  uncommitted delegates to the national party convention.  For the 
  4.25  purposes of sections 207A.01 to 207A.07, "political party" or 
  4.26  "party" means a political party as defined in section 200.02, 
  4.27  subdivision 7.