HF 2474

1st Engrossment - 94th Legislature (2025 - 2026) Posted on 03/26/2025 12:25pm

A bill for an act
relating to elections; modifying provisions related to absentee voting; amending
Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 203B.04, subdivision 1; 203B.05, subdivision
1; 203B.121, subdivisions 4, 5; 203B.29, subdivisions 1, 2; 203B.30, subdivision
3.

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

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.04, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Application procedures.

(a) Except as otherwise allowed by subdivision
2 or by section 203B.11, subdivision 4, new text begin or 203B.29, new text end an application for absentee ballots for
any election new text begin :
new text end

new text begin (1) new text end may be submitted new text begin in person at any time not later than the day before the election; or
new text end

new text begin (2) if not submitted in person as provided in clause (1), must be received new text end at any time not
less than deleted text begin one day deleted text end new text begin seven days new text end before the day of that election.

The county auditor shall prepare absentee ballot application forms in the format provided
by the secretary of state and shall furnish them to any person on request. By January 1 of
each even-numbered year, the secretary of state shall make the forms to be used available
to auditors through electronic means. An application submitted pursuant to this subdivision
shall be in writing. An application may be submitted in person, by electronic facsimile
device, by electronic mail, or by mail to:

(1) the county auditor of the county where the applicant maintains residence; or

(2) the municipal clerk of the municipality, or school district if applicable, where the
applicant maintains residence.

(b) An absentee ballot application may alternatively be submitted electronically through
a secure website that shall be maintained by the secretary of state for this purpose. new text begin After
5:00 p.m. seven days prior to an election, the secretary of state must replace the electronic
application with information detailing the available options to vote before and on the
upcoming election day. new text end Notwithstanding paragraph (d), the secretary of state must require
applicants using the website to submit the applicant's email address and new text begin the applicant's:
new text end

new text begin (1) new text end verifiable Minnesota driver's license number deleted text begin , deleted text end new text begin or new text end Minnesota state identification card
number deleted text begin , or deleted text end new text begin ; and
new text end

new text begin (2) new text end the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number.

new text begin If an applicant does not possess both types of documents, the applicant must include the
number for one type of document and must affirmatively certify that the applicant does not
possess the other type of documentation. new text end This paragraph does not apply to a town election
held in March.

(c) An application submitted electronically under deleted text begin this deleted text end paragraph new text begin (b) new text end may only be
transmitted to the county auditor for processing if the secretary of state has verified the
application information matches the information in a government database associated with
the applicant's driver's license number, state identification card number, or Social Security
number. The secretary of state must review all unverifiable applications for evidence of
suspicious activity and must forward any such application to an appropriate law enforcement
agency for investigation.

(d) An application shall be approved if it is timely received, signed and dated by the
applicant, contains the applicant's name and residence and mailing addresses, date of birth,
and at least one of the following:

(1) the applicant's Minnesota driver's license number;

(2) Minnesota state identification card number;

(3) the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number; or

(4) a statement that the applicant does not have any of these numbers.

new text begin All applications must be retained by the county auditor or the municipal clerk or school
district clerk, if applicable. If an application is received after 5:00 p.m. seven days prior to
the election, the official in charge of the ballot board must, within one day of receipt of the
application, attempt to contact the applicant by telephone or email to notify the applicant
of opportunities to vote in the election. The official must document the attempts made to
contact the applicant.
new text end

(e) To be approved, the application must contain an oath that the information contained
on the form is accurate, that the applicant is applying on the applicant's own behalf, and
that the applicant is signing the form under penalty of perjury.

(f) An applicant's full date of birth, Minnesota driver's license or state identification
number, and the last four digits of the applicant's Social Security number must not be made
available for public inspection. An application may be submitted to the county auditor or
municipal clerk by an electronic facsimile device. An application mailed or returned in
person to the county auditor or municipal clerk on behalf of a voter by a person other than
the voter must be deposited in the mail or returned in person to the county auditor or
municipal clerk within deleted text begin ten deleted text end new text begin seven new text end days after it has been dated by the voter and no later than
deleted text begin six deleted text end new text begin seven new text end days before the election.

(g) An application under this subdivision may contain an application under subdivision
5 to automatically receive an absentee ballot.

Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.05, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Generally.

The full-time clerk of any city or town shall administer the
provisions of sections 203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if:

(1) the county auditor of that county has designated the clerk to administer them new text begin and the
clerk accepts that responsibility new text end ; or

(2) the clerk has given the county auditor of that county notice of intention to administer
them.

The designation or notice must specify whether the clerk will be responsible for the
administration of a ballot board as provided in section 203B.121 new text begin and whether the
municipality's office will be designated an absentee voting location pursuant to section
203B.081, subdivision 1, or only for early voting pursuant to section 203B.081, subdivision
1a new text end .

A clerk of a city that is located in more than one county may only administer the
provisions of sections 203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if the clerk has been designated
by each of the county auditors or has provided notice to each of the county auditors that the
city will administer absentee voting. A clerk may only administer the provisions of sections
203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if the clerk has technical capacity to access the statewide
voter registration system in the secure manner prescribed by the secretary of state. The
secretary of state must identify hardware, software, security, or other technical prerequisites
necessary to ensure the security, access controls, and performance of the statewide voter
registration system. A clerk must receive training approved by the secretary of state on the
use of the statewide voter registration system before administering this section. A clerk may
not use the statewide voter registration system until the clerk has received the required
training. The county auditor must notify the secretary of state of any municipal clerk who
will be administering the provisions of this section and the duties that the clerk will
administer.

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective upon the revisor of statutes' receipt of
the early voting certification and applies to elections held on or after the 85th day after the
revisor of statutes receives the certification.
new text end

Sec. 3.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.121, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Opening of envelopes.

new text begin (a) new text end After the close of business on the 19th day before
the election, the ballots from deleted text begin secrecy deleted text end new text begin ballot new text end envelopes within the signature envelopes marked
"Accepted" may be opened, duplicated as needed in the manner provided in section 206.86,
subdivision 5, initialed by the members of the ballot board, and deposited in the appropriate
ballot box. If more than one voted ballot is enclosed in the ballot envelope, the ballots must
be returned in the manner provided by section 204C.25 for return of spoiled ballots, and
may not be counted.

new text begin (b) Accepted signature envelopes must be segregated by precinct and processed in
accordance with this subdivision on a precinct-by-precinct basis. Precincts within a
combination polling place established in section 205A.11, subdivision 2, may be processed
together. At each step, members of the ballot board must notify the official responsible for
the ballot board if there is a discrepancy in any count required by paragraphs (c) to (e) and
note it in the ballot board incident log.
new text end

new text begin (c) Before opening accepted signature envelopes, two members of the ballot board must
count and record the number of envelopes and ensure that the count matches either the
number of accepted signature envelopes provided by the official responsible for the ballot
board or the number of signature envelopes accepted by the ballot board that day.
new text end

new text begin (d) Two members of the ballot board must remove the ballots from the ballot envelopes.
The governing body responsible for the ballot board must retain all ballot envelopes through
the contest period of that election.
new text end

new text begin (e) After ballots have been removed from the ballot envelopes, two members of the
ballot board must count and record the number of ballots to ensure the count matches the
number of accepted signature envelopes, accounting for any empty envelopes or spoiled
ballots, which must be noted on the ballot board incident log.
new text end

Sec. 4.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.121, subdivision 5, is amended to read:

Subd. 5.

Storage and counting of absentee ballots.

(a) On a day on which absentee
ballots are inserted into a ballot box, two members of the ballot board must:

(1) remove the ballots from the ballot box at the end of the day;

(2) without inspecting the ballots, ensure that the number of ballots removed from the
ballot box is equal to the number of deleted text begin voters whose deleted text end absentee ballots deleted text begin were accepted deleted text end new text begin from the
tally in subdivision 4 that were to be inserted into the ballot box new text end that day; and

(3) seal and secure all voted and unvoted ballots present in that location at the end of
the day.

(b) After the polls have closed on election day, two members of the ballot board must
count the ballots, tabulating the vote in a manner that indicates each vote of the voter and
the total votes cast for each candidate or question. In state primary and state general elections,
the results must indicate the total votes cast for each candidate or question in each precinct
and report the vote totals tabulated for each precinct. The count must be recorded on a
summary statement in substantially the same format as provided in section 204C.26. The
ballot board deleted text begin shall deleted text end new text begin must new text end submit at least one completed summary statement to the county
auditor or municipal clerk. The county auditor or municipal clerk may require the ballot
board to submit a sufficient number of completed summary statements to comply with the
provisions of section 204C.27, or the county auditor or municipal clerk may certify reports
containing the details of the ballot board summary statement to the recipients of the summary
statements designated in section 204C.27.

deleted text begin In state primary and state general elections, deleted text end These vote totals deleted text begin shall deleted text end new text begin must new text end be added to the
vote totals on the summary statements of the returns for the appropriate precinct. deleted text begin In other
elections, these vote totals may be added to the vote totals on the summary statement of
returns for the appropriate precinct or may be reported as a separate total.
deleted text end

The count deleted text begin shall deleted text end new text begin must new text end be public. No vote totals from ballots may be made public before
the close of voting on election day.

(c) In addition to the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b), if the task has not been
completed previously, the members of the ballot board must verify as soon as possible, but
no later than 24 hours after the end of the hours for voting, that voters whose absentee ballots
arrived after the rosters were marked or supplemental reports were generated and whose
ballots were accepted did not vote in person on election day. An absentee ballot submitted
by a voter who has voted in person on election day must be rejected. All other accepted
absentee ballots must be opened new text begin in accordance with the procedures outlined in subdivision
4, except for the absentee ballots cast using the alternative procedure in section 203B.081,
subdivision 3 new text end , duplicated if necessary, and counted by members of the ballot board. The
vote totals from these ballots must be incorporated into the totals with the other absentee
ballots and handled according to paragraph (b).

Sec. 5.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.29, subdivision 1, is amended to read:

Subdivision 1.

Emergency response providers.

Any eligible Minnesota voter who is
a trained or certified emergency response provider or utility worker who is deployed in
response to any state of emergency declared by the President of the United States or any
governor of any state within the United States during the time period authorized by law for
absentee voting or on election day may request that ballots, instructions, and a certificate
of voter eligibility be transmitted to the voter electronically. Upon receipt of a properly
completed application requesting electronic transmission, the county auditor must
electronically transmit the requested materials to the voter. new text begin The absentee ballot application
deadlines in section 203B.04, subdivision 1, do not apply to this subdivision. new text end The county
auditor is not required to provide return postage to voters to whom ballots are transmitted
electronically.

Sec. 6.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.29, subdivision 2, is amended to read:

Subd. 2.

Reasonable accommodation for voter with disability.

Any eligible Minnesota
voter with a print disability, including any voter with disabilities that interfere with the
effective reading, writing, or use of printed materials, may request that ballots, instructions,
and a certificate of voter eligibility be transmitted to the voter electronically in an accessible
format that meets Election Assistance Commission minimum accessibility requirements.
Upon receipt of a properly completed application requesting electronic transmission, the
county auditor shall electronically transmit the requested materials to the voter. new text begin The absentee
ballot application deadlines in section 203B.04, subdivision 1, do not apply to this
subdivision. new text end The county auditor must also mail the voter materials required under section
203B.07.

Sec. 7.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.30, subdivision 3, is amended to read:

Subd. 3.

Processing of ballots.

new text begin Each day when early voting occurs, new text end the early voting
officials must new text begin :
new text end

new text begin (1) new text end remove and secure ballots cast deleted text begin during the early voting period following the procedures
in section 203B.121, subdivision 5, paragraph (a). deleted text end new text begin noting the date, voting location, and
number of ballots cast;
new text end

new text begin (2) without inspecting the ballots, ensure that the number of ballots removed from the
ballot box is equal to the number of voter certificates that were signed by voters in subdivision
2, paragraph (b); and
new text end

new text begin (3) seal and secure all voted and unvoted ballots present in that location at the end of
the day.
new text end

The deleted text begin absentee deleted text end ballot board must count the ballots after the polls have closed on election
day following the procedures in section 203B.121, subdivision 5, paragraph (b).

new text begin EFFECTIVE DATE. new text end

new text begin This section is effective upon the revisor of statutes' receipt of
the early voting certification and applies to elections held on or after the 85th day after the
revisor of statutes receives the certification.
new text end