Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Office of the Revisor of Statutes

Key: (1) language to be deleted (2) new language

                            CHAPTER 607-S.F.No. 2297 
                  An act relating to elections; eliminating combined 
                  precincts but authorizing a combined polling place 
                  under the same conditions; adding three years to the 
                  time precinct boundaries may be changed; requiring 
                  separate precincts for each congressional district; 
                  limiting precinct boundary changes close to an 
                  election; amending Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 
                  204B.14, subdivisions 2 and 3; 204B.22, subdivision 1; 
                  and 205A.11; Minnesota Statutes 1993 Supplement, 
                  section 204B.14, subdivisions 4 and 5; repealing 
                  Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 204B.14, subdivision 
                  8; and 204B.16, subdivision 2. 
        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
           Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 204B.14, 
        subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 2.  [SEPARATE PRECINCTS; REQUIREMENTS COMBINED 
        POLLING PLACE.] (a) The following shall constitute at least one 
        election precinct:  
           (a) (1) each city ward; and 
           (b) (2) each town and each statutory city, unless 
        municipalities are combined for election purposes under 
        subdivision 8.  Notwithstanding any law to the contrary, each 
        town and each statutory city located within the metropolitan 
        area as defined in section 473.121, subdivision 2, shall 
        constitute at least one election precinct.  
           (b) A single, accessible, combined polling place may be 
        established no later than June 1 of any year: 
           (1) for any city of the third or fourth class, any town, or 
        any city having territory in more than one county, in which all 
        the voters of the city or town shall cast their ballots; 
           (2) for two contiguous precincts in the same municipality 
        that have a combined total of fewer than 500 registered voters; 
        or 
           (3) for up to four contiguous municipalities located 
        entirely outside the metropolitan area, as defined by section 
        473.121, subdivision 2, that are contained in the same 
        congressional, legislative, and county commissioner district. 
           A copy of the ordinance or resolution establishing a 
        combined polling place must be filed with the county auditor 
        within 30 days after approval by the governing body.  A polling 
        place combined under clause (3) must be approved by the 
        governing body of each participating municipality.  A 
        municipality withdrawing from participation in a combined 
        polling place must do so by filing a resolution of withdrawal 
        with the county auditor no later than May 1 of any year. 
           The secretary of state shall provide a separate polling 
        place roster for each precinct served by the combined polling 
        place.  A single set of election judges may be appointed to 
        serve at a combined polling place.  The number of election 
        judges required must be based on the total number of persons 
        voting at the last similar election in all precincts to be 
        voting at the combined polling place.  Separate ballot boxes 
        must be provided for the ballots from each precinct.  The 
        results of the election must be reported separately for each 
        precinct served by the combined polling place, except in a 
        polling place established under clause (2) where one of the 
        precincts has fewer than ten registered voters, in which case 
        the results of that precinct must be reported in the manner 
        specified by the secretary of state.  
           Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 204B.14, 
        subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 3.  [BOUNDARY CHANGES; PROHIBITIONS; EXCEPTION.] 
        Notwithstanding other law or charter provisions to the contrary, 
        during the period from January 1 in any year ending in seven 
        zero to the time when the legislature has been redistricted in a 
        year ending in one or two, no changes may be made in the 
        boundaries of any election precinct except as provided in this 
        subdivision. 
           (a) If a city annexes an unincorporated area located in the 
        same county as the city and adjacent to the corporate boundary, 
        the annexed area may be included in an election precinct 
        immediately adjacent to it.  
           (b) A municipality or county may establish new election 
        precincts lying entirely within the boundaries of any existing 
        precinct and shall assign names to the new precincts which 
        include the name of the former precinct.  
           (c) Precinct boundaries must be reestablished within 60 
        days of the time when the legislature has been redistricted, or 
        at least 19 weeks before the state primary election in a year 
        ending in two, whichever comes first.  The adoption of 
        reestablished precinct boundaries becomes effective on the date 
        of the state primary election in the year ending in two. 
           Precincts must be arranged so that no precinct lies in more 
        than one legislative or congressional district.  
           Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1993 Supplement, section 
        204B.14, subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 4.  [BOUNDARY CHANGE PROCEDURE.] Any change in the 
        boundary of an election precinct shall be adopted at least 90 
        days before the date of the next election and, for the state 
        primary and general election, no later than June 1 in the year 
        of the state general election.  The precinct boundary change 
        shall not take effect until notice of the change has been posted 
        in the office of the municipal clerk or county auditor for at 
        least 60 days.  
           The county auditor must publish a notice illustrating or 
        describing the congressional, legislative, and county 
        commissioner district boundaries in the county in one or more 
        qualified newspapers in the county at least 14 days prior to the 
        first day to file affidavits of candidacy for the state general 
        election in the year ending in two. 
           Alternate dates for adopting changes in precinct 
        boundaries, posting notices of boundary changes, and notifying 
        voters affected by boundary changes pursuant to this subdivision 
        may be established in the manner provided in the rules of the 
        secretary of state. 
           Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1993 Supplement, section 
        204B.14, subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
           Subd. 5.  [PRECINCT BOUNDARIES; DESCRIPTION; MAPS.] When a 
        precinct boundary has been changed, the municipal clerk shall 
        immediately notify the secretary of state.  Upon receipt of this 
        notice or a notice of annexation from the Minnesota municipal 
        board, the secretary of state shall provide the municipal clerk 
        with a base map on which the clerk shall note the boundary 
        change.  The clerk shall return the corrected base map to the 
        secretary of state within 30 days after the boundary change was 
        made.  The secretary of state shall update the precinct boundary 
        database, prepare a corrected precinct map, and provide the 
        corrected precinct map to the county auditor and the municipal 
        clerk who shall make them available for public inspection.  The 
        county auditor shall prepare and file precinct boundary maps for 
        precincts in unorganized territories, and the municipal clerk 
        designated in the combination agreement shall prepare and file 
        precinct boundary maps in the case of municipalities combined 
        for election purposes under subdivision 8, in the same manner as 
        provided for precincts in municipalities.  For every election 
        held in the municipality the election judges shall be furnished 
        precinct maps as provided in section 201.061, subdivision 6.  If 
        a municipality changes the boundary of an election precinct, the 
        county auditor shall notify each school district with territory 
        affected by the boundary change at least 30 days before the 
        effective date of the change.  
           Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 204B.22, 
        subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
           Subdivision 1.  [MINIMUM NUMBER REQUIRED.] A minimum of 
        three election judges shall be appointed for each precinct.  In 
        a precinct of municipalities combined for election purposes 
        polling place under section 204B.14, subdivision 8 2, at least 
        one judge must be appointed from each municipality in the 
        combined precinct polling place, provided that not less than 
        three judges shall be appointed for each combined precinct 
        polling place.  The appointing authorities may appoint election 
        judges for any precinct in addition to the number required by 
        this subdivision including additional election judges to count 
        ballots after voting has ended. 
           Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1992, section 205A.11, is 
        amended to read: 
           205A.11 [PRECINCTS; POLLING PLACES.] 
           Subdivision 1.  [ESTABLISHED PRECINCTS.] The precincts and 
        polling places for school district elections are those precincts 
        or parts of precincts and polling places set in sections 204B.14 
        to 204B.16, except that at a school district election not held 
        on the day of a statewide election, the school board may, in the 
        manner specified in this section, combine several precincts into 
        a single combined precinct with one polling place and one set of 
        election judges.  The school board shall establish combined 
        precincts and polling places for an election by resolution 
        adopted at least 30 days before the election, post a map of the 
        combined precincts, file a copy of the map and resolution with 
        the county auditor, and cause notice of the election to be 
        published in the official newspaper of the district, which 
        notice must include information concerning each established 
        combined precinct and polling place.  At school district 
        elections not held on the day of a statewide election, precincts 
        located in separate counties may be combined into a single 
        combined precinct with one polling place and one set of election 
        judges if duplicate voter registration files are maintained for 
        the voters of each county.  School district elections must be 
        conducted in the precincts, or when the school district boundary 
        divides a precinct, parts of precincts that have been 
        established by the county or municipal governing bodies as 
        provided in section 204B.14.  If an election other than the 
        school district election is being held in any part of a 
        precinct, all the voters of the precinct must vote at the 
        polling place designated for the precinct as provided in section 
        204B.14.  
           Subd. 2.  [COMBINED POLLING PLACE.] If there is an election 
        being conducted in some but not all of the precincts in the 
        school district, for those precincts in which no other election 
        is being conducted the school board may designate a combined 
        polling place at which the voters in up to ten precincts may 
        vote in the school district election.  If there is no other 
        election being conducted in any part of the school district, the 
        school board may establish a single polling place at which all 
        the voters must vote. 
           Subd. 3.  [PROCEDURE.] The school board must notify the 
        county auditor within 30 days after the establishment of a 
        polling place as provided in this section.  The notice must 
        include a list of the precincts that will be voting at each 
        polling place.  The school board must send the notice required 
        by section 204B.16, subdivision 1a, after a polling place is 
        established as provided in this section, but no additional 
        notices of this kind are required for any subsequent similar 
        elections until the location of the polling place or the 
        combination of precincts voting at the polling place is 
        changed.  The secretary of state shall provide a single polling 
        place roster for use in any polling place established as 
        provided in this section.  A single set of election judges must 
        be appointed to serve in the polling place.  The number of 
        election judges required must be based on the total number of 
        persons voting at the last similar election in all the precincts 
        to be voting at the single polling place.  A single ballot box 
        may be provided for all the ballots. 
           Sec. 7.  [REPEALER.] 
           Minnesota Statutes 1992, sections 204B.14, subdivision 8; 
        and 204B.16, subdivision 2, are repealed. 
           Presented to the governor May 5, 1994 
           Signed by the governor May 6, 1994, 11:58 a.m.

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes