SF 563

as introduced - 82nd Legislature (2001 - 2002) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to elections; providing for voter 
  1.3             registration materials in certain foreign languages; 
  1.4             requiring outreach to voters who do not speak English; 
  1.5             appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2000, 
  1.6             section 201.071, by adding a subdivision; proposing 
  1.7             coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 201. 
  1.8   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.9      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 201.071, is 
  1.10  amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
  1.11     Subd. 2a.  [FOREIGN LANGUAGE VOTER REGISTRATION MATERIALS.] 
  1.12  The secretary of state must prepare the voter registration card 
  1.13  and the instructions listed in subdivision 1 in the Spanish, 
  1.14  Somali, Russian, Hmong, and Vietnamese languages.  The secretary 
  1.15  of state must provide copies of these instructions to county 
  1.16  auditors, the department of public safety, other state agencies, 
  1.17  and other entities that disseminate voter registration cards to 
  1.18  the public. 
  1.19     Sec. 2.  [201.075] [OUTREACH TO PERSONS WHO DO NOT SPEAK 
  1.20  ENGLISH.] 
  1.21     The secretary of state must engage in efforts to inform 
  1.22  citizens who do not speak English of their right to vote and how 
  1.23  to register to vote.  In planning these efforts, the secretary 
  1.24  of state must consult with the council on Asian-Pacific 
  1.25  Minnesotans, the council on affairs of Chicano-Latino people, 
  1.26  and the council on Black Minnesotans.  
  2.1      Sec. 3.  [APPROPRIATION.] 
  2.2      $....... is appropriated from the general fund to the 
  2.3   secretary of state to provide the outreach required in section 2.
  2.4   This appropriation is available until June 30, 2003.