HF 874

as introduced - 84th Legislature (2005 - 2006) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

A bill for an act
relating to elections; setting standards for and
providing for the acquisition of voting systems;
appropriating money from the Help America Vote Act
account; amending Minnesota Statutes 2004, section
206.80; proposing coding for new law in Minnesota
Statutes, chapter 206.

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

Section 1.

new text begin [206.585] STATE VOTING SYSTEMS CONTRACT.
new text end

new text begin The secretary of state, in cooperation with the
commissioner of administration, shall establish a state voting
systems contract. The contract should, if practical, include
provisions for maintenance of the equipment purchased. Bids for
voting systems and related election services must be solicited
from each vendor selling or leasing voting systems that have
been certified for use by the secretary of state. The contract
must be renewed no later than July 1 of each odd-numbered year.
Counties and municipalities may purchase or lease voting systems
and obtain related election services from the state contract.
new text end

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2004, section 206.80, is
amended to read:

206.80 ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.

new text begin (a) new text end An electronic voting system may not be employed unless
it:

(1) permits every voter to vote in secret;

(2) permits every voter to vote for all candidates and
questions for whom or upon which the voter is legally entitled
to vote;

(3) provides for write-in voting when authorized;

(4) rejects by means of the automatic tabulating equipment,
except as provided in section 206.84 with respect to write-in
votes, all votes for an office or question when the number of
votes cast on it exceeds the number which the voter is entitled
to cast;

(5) permits a voter at a primary election to select
secretly the party for which the voter wishes to vote; deleted text begin and
deleted text end

(6) rejects, by means of the automatic tabulating
equipment, all votes cast in a primary election by a voter when
the voter votes for candidates of more than one party new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (7) provides every voter an opportunity to verify votes and
to change votes or correct any error before the voter's ballot
is cast and counted, produces a permanent paper record of the
ballot cast by the voter, and preserves the paper record as an
official record available for use in any recount new text end .

new text begin (b) An electronic voting system purchased on or after the
effective date of this section may not be employed unless it
accepts and tabulates, in the precinct or at a counting center,
a marked optical scan ballot or creates a marked optical scan
ballot that can be tabulated in the precinct or at a counting
center by an optical scan machine certified for use in this
state.
new text end

Sec. 3. new text begin APPROPRIATIONS.
new text end

new text begin Subdivision 1. new text end

new text begin Assisted voting equipment. new text end

new text begin $18,000,000 is
appropriated from the Help America Vote Act account to the
secretary of state for grants to counties to purchase electronic
voting systems equipped for individuals with disabilities that
meet the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, section 206.80, and
have been certified by the secretary of state under Minnesota
Statutes, section 206.57. The secretary of state shall make a
grant to each county in the amount of $4,400 times the number of
polling places in the county as certified by the county, which
must not be more than the number of polling places used by the
county in the state general election of 2004. Each polling
place used after January 1, 2006, must be equipped with an
electronic voting system equipped for individuals with
disabilities.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 2. new text end

new text begin Optical scan equipment; operating costs. new text end

new text begin (a)
$18,000,000 is appropriated from the Help America Vote Act
account to the secretary of state for grants to counties to
purchase optical scan voting systems that meet the requirements
of Minnesota Statutes, section 206.80, and have been certified
by the secretary of state under Minnesota Statutes, section
206.57, and to pay for operating costs of the systems purchased
under this subdivision or subdivision 1. The amount allocated
to each county must be in proportion to the number of polling
places used by the county in the state general election of 2004.
new text end

new text begin (b) "Operating costs" may include county and municipal
costs for hardware maintenance, election day technical support,
software licensing, voting system testing, training of county or
municipal staff in the use of the voting system, transportation
of the voting systems to and from the polling places, and
storage of the voting systems between elections. Total annual
operating costs of a county or municipality may not exceed $450
per polling place.
new text end

new text begin (c) To receive a grant, a county must apply to the
secretary of state on forms prescribed by the secretary of state
that set forth how the grant money will be spent. A county may
submit more than one grant application, so long as the
appropriation remains available and the total amount granted to
the county does not exceed the county's allocation.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 3. new text end

new text begin Local equipment plans. new text end

new text begin (a) The county auditor
shall convene a working group of the city and town election
officials in each county to create a local equipment plan. The
working group must continue to meet until the plan is completed,
which must be no later than June 30, 2005. The plan must:
new text end

new text begin (1) contain procedures to implement assisted voting
technology for use by disabled voters in each polling location;
new text end

new text begin (2) define who is responsible for any capital or operating
costs related to election equipment not covered by federal money
from the Help America Vote Act account; and
new text end

new text begin (3) outline how the grants under subdivisions 1 and 2 will
be spent.
new text end

new text begin (b) A county plan must provide funding to purchase
precinct-based optical scan equipment for any polling place
whose city or town requests it, if the requesting city or town
agrees with the county on who will be responsible for operating
and replacement costs related to the use of the precinct-based
equipment.
new text end

new text begin (c) The county board of commissioners must adopt the local
equipment plan after a public hearing. Money from the Help
America Vote Act account may not be expended until the plan is
adopted. The county auditor shall file the adopted local
equipment plan with the secretary of state.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 4. new text end

new text begin Report. new text end

new text begin Each county receiving a grant under
subdivision 1 or 2 must report to the secretary of state by
January 15, 2006, the amount spent for the purchase of each kind
of electronic voting system and for operating costs of the
systems purchased. The secretary of state shall compile this
information and report it to the legislature by February 15,
2006.
new text end

new text begin Subd. 5. new text end

new text begin Availability. new text end

new text begin The appropriations in this
section are available until June 30, 2009.
new text end

Sec. 4. new text begin MAIL BALLOTING.
new text end

new text begin Nothing in this act is intended to preclude the use of mail
balloting in those precincts where it is allowed under state law.
new text end

Sec. 5. new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE.
new text end

new text begin This act is effective the day following final enactment.
new text end