SF 193

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; providing for color coded state 
  1.3             partisan primary ballots; amending Minnesota Statutes 
  1.4             2002, section 204D.08, subdivision 4. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2002, section 204D.08, 
  1.7   subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
  1.8      Subd. 4.  [STATE PARTISAN PRIMARY BALLOT; PARTY COLUMNS.] 
  1.9   The state partisan primary ballot shall be headed by the words 
  1.10  "State Partisan Primary Ballot."  The ballot shall be printed on 
  1.11  white paper.  There must be at least three vertical columns on 
  1.12  the ballot and each major political party shall have a separate 
  1.13  column headed by the words ".......... Party," giving the party 
  1.14  name, and, except for the Independence Party of Minnesota, 
  1.15  bordered by a distinctive color.  The border for the column for 
  1.16  the Republican Party of Minnesota must be blue; the border for 
  1.17  the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party must be red; the 
  1.18  border for the Green Party of Minnesota must be green; and the 
  1.19  color for the border of any other major political party must be 
  1.20  as determined by the secretary of state.  Above the party names, 
  1.21  the following statement shall be printed.  
  1.22     "Minnesota Election Law permits you to vote for the 
  1.23  candidates of only one political party in a state partisan 
  1.24  primary election." 
  1.25     If there are only two major political parties to be listed 
  2.1   on the ballot, one party must occupy the left-hand column, the 
  2.2   other party must occupy the right-hand column, and the center 
  2.3   column must contain the following statement:  
  2.4      "Do not vote for candidates of more than one party."  
  2.5      The names of the candidates seeking the nomination of each 
  2.6   major political party shall be listed in that party's column.  
  2.7   If only one individual files an affidavit of candidacy seeking 
  2.8   the nomination of a major political party for an office, the 
  2.9   name of that individual shall be placed on the state partisan 
  2.10  primary ballot at the appropriate location in that party's 
  2.11  column.  
  2.12     In each column, the candidates for senator in Congress 
  2.13  shall be listed first, candidates for representative in Congress 
  2.14  second, candidates for state senator third, candidates for state 
  2.15  representative fourth and then candidates for state office in 
  2.16  the order specified by the secretary of state.  
  2.17     The party columns shall be substantially the same in width, 
  2.18  type, and appearance.  The columns shall be separated by a 
  2.19  12-point solid line.