Minnesota Session Laws - 1988, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1988 

                        CHAPTER 646-H.F.No. 2536 
           An act relating to elections; providing that statewide 
          computerized voter registration system satisfy 
          requirements for duplicate registration file; 
          establishing voter registration account and 
          appropriating money; changing certain procedures 
          related to registration cards, files, and records; 
          changing certain procedures for voting, arranging 
          names on ballots, and completing summary statements; 
          permitting cities or counties to use their present 
          voting systems for general elections; amending 
          Minnesota Statutes 1986, sections 201.091, 
          subdivisions 2 and 5; 204D.08, subdivision 5; 
          Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, sections 201.022, 
          subdivision 1; 201.071, subdivision 4; 204C.24, 
          subdivision 1; 204D.08, subdivision 4; and 206.80; 
          proposing coding for new law in Minnesota Statutes, 
          chapter 201. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
    Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
201.022, subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHMENT.] The secretary of state 
shall develop and implement a statewide computerized voter 
registration system to facilitate voter registration and to 
provide a central data base containing voter registration 
information from around the state.  The system must be 
accessible to the county auditor of each county in the state. 
The system must satisfy the requirements for a duplicate 
registration file.  County requirements for a duplicate 
registration file are met when the secretary of state determines 
that a county's voter registration records have been completely 
converted to the statewide system.  
    Sec. 2.  [201.023] [VOTER REGISTRATION ACCOUNT.] 
    The voter registration account is established as an account 
in the state treasury.  Amounts received by the secretary of 
state to pay the cost of producing lists of registered voters 
under section 201.091, subdivision 5, by the statewide 
computerized registration system must be deposited in the state 
treasury and credited to the voter registration account.  Money 
in the voter registration account is continually appropriated to 
the secretary of state to produce lists of registered voters 
under section 201.091, subdivision 5. 
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
201.071, subdivision 4, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 4.  [CHANGE OF REGISTRATION.] Any county auditor who 
receives a registration card indicating that an individual was 
previously registered in a different county in Minnesota shall 
notify the county auditor of that county on a form in the manner 
prescribed by the secretary of state.  A county auditor 
receiving a registration card indicating that a voter was 
previously registered in a different precinct in the same county 
or receiving a notification form as provided in this subdivision 
shall delete that individual's name from the registration lists, 
remove the that individual's duplicate voter registration card, 
if any, and the original voter registration cards card from the 
files, and change the registration information in the data base 
of the central registration system make any other necessary 
changes in the voter registration records.  Any county auditor 
who receives a registration card or notification requiring a 
change of registration records under this subdivision shall also 
check the duplicate registration card or file from the precinct 
of prior residence to determine whether the individual voted in 
that precinct in the most recent election. 
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 201.091, 
subdivision 2, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 2.  [CORRECTED LIST.] On February 15 of each year, 
the county auditor shall prepare and on request make available 
current precinct lists for the county.  Each precinct list shall 
be periodically corrected and updated by the county auditor.  A 
final corrected precinct list for each precinct shall be 
available 15 days before each primary.  A corrected precinct 
list may be either in the form of a complete corrected list or a 
separate list of additions and deletions to the preceding list.  
If it is available, the auditor and the secretary of state shall 
also provide the information at cost in the form of accessible 
computer data. 
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 201.091, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 5.  [COPY OF LIST TO REGISTERED VOTER.] The 
county auditor auditors and the secretary of state shall provide 
paper copies of the current precinct lists and may provide lists 
in some other form to any voter registered in the county 
Minnesota within ten days of receiving a written request 
accompanied by payment of the cost of reproduction.  The 
county auditor auditors and the secretary of state shall make a 
copy of the list available for public inspection without cost.  
No individual who inspects or acquires a copy of a precinct list 
may use any information contained in it for purposes unrelated 
to elections, political activities, or law enforcement.  No list 
made available for public inspection or purchase may include the 
date of birth of a registered voter.  
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
204C.24, subdivision 1, is amended to read:  
    Subdivision 1.  [INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS.] Precinct 
summary statements shall be submitted by the election judges in 
every precinct.  The election judges shall complete three or 
more copies of the summary statements, and each copy shall 
contain the following information for each kind of ballot:  
    (a) the number of votes each candidate received or the 
number of yes and no votes on each question, the number of 
undervotes or partially blank ballots, and the number of 
overvotes or partially defective ballots with respect to each 
office or question;  
    (b) the number of totally blank ballots, the number of 
totally defective ballots, the number of spoiled ballots, and 
the number of unused ballots;  
    (c) the number of individuals who voted at the election in 
the precinct;  
    (d) in counties with permanent registration, the number of 
voters registered before the polling place opened and the number 
of voters registering on election day in that precinct; and 
    (e) the signatures of the election judges who counted the 
ballots certifying that all of the ballots cast were properly 
piled, checked, and counted; and that the numbers entered by the 
election judges on the summary statements correctly show the 
number of votes cast for each candidate and for and against each 
question. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
204D.08, subdivision 4, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 4.  [STATE PARTISAN PRIMARY BALLOT; PARTY COLUMNS.] 
The state partisan primary ballot shall be headed by the words 
"State Partisan Primary Ballot."  The ballot shall be printed on 
white paper.  The ballot must be designed to include a form of 
party indicator by which the voter may choose the party in whose 
primary the voter intends to vote. There must be at least three 
vertical columns on the ballot and each major political party 
shall have a separate column on the ballot, which column shall 
be headed by the words ".......... Party," giving the party 
name.  Below Above the party name names, the following statement 
shall be printed.  
    "Minnesota election law permits you to vote for the 
candidates of only one political party in a state partisan 
primary election." 
    If there are only two major political parties to be listed 
on the ballot, one party must occupy the left-hand column, the 
other party must occupy the right-hand column, and the center 
column must contain the following statement:  
    "Do not vote for candidates of more than one party."  
    The names of the candidates seeking the nomination of each 
major political party shall be listed in that party's column.  
If only one individual files an affidavit of candidacy seeking 
the nomination of a major political party for an office, the 
name of that individual shall be placed on the state partisan 
primary ballot at the appropriate location in that party's 
column.  
    In each column, the candidates for senator in congress 
shall be listed first, candidates for representative in congress 
second, candidates for state senator third, candidates for state 
representative fourth and then candidates for state office in 
the order specified by the secretary of state.  
    The party columns shall be substantially the same in width, 
type and appearance.  The columns shall be separated by a 12 
point solid line. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1986, section 204D.08, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read:  
    Subd. 5.  [PARTY COLUMNS; ARRANGEMENT.] The names of 
candidates for nomination of the major political party that 
received the highest average vote at the last state general 
election in the county shall must be placed in the first column 
on the left side of the ballot.  The names of candidates for 
nomination of the major political party that received the next 
highest average vote at the last state general election in the 
county shall must be placed in the second column, and so on.  
For the purpose of this subdivision, The average vote shall be 
computed by dividing the total number of votes counted in the 
county for all of the candidates of that major political party 
appearing on the white ballot at the last state general election 
by the number of candidates of that party whose names appeared 
on the white ballot in the manner provided in section 204D.13, 
subdivision 2. 
     Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1987 Supplement, section 
206.80, is amended to read:  
    206.80 [ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEMS.] 
    (a) 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; and 
    (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, except as 
provided in paragraph (b).  
    (b) A punch card electronic voting system must permit may 
not be employed at a partisan primary election unless it permits 
a voter at a partisan primary election to select the party for 
which the voter wishes to vote by punching out an indicator for 
one of the parties only, and must reject, by means of the 
automatic tabulating equipment, all votes cast in a partisan 
primary election by a voter for candidates of a party other than 
the one chosen by the voter from the party indicators. 
    Approved April 26, 1988