1998 Minnesota Statutes

CHAPTER 207A. Presidential primary

     207A.01 Presidential primary. 

    A presidential primary must be held on the first Tuesday in 
 April of each year after 1999 in which a president and vice 
 president of the United States are to be nominated and elected, 
 at which the voters of this state may express their preference 
 among the candidates of the major political party of their 
 choice, for that party's nomination to be president of the 
 United States or may vote for uncommitted delegates to the 
 national party convention.  For the purposes of sections 207A.01 
 to 207A.07, "political party" or "party" means a political party 
 as defined in section 200.02, subdivision 7.  

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 1; 1990 c 603 s 4; 1995 c 224 s 73 

     207A.02 Candidates on ballot. 

    Subdivision 1.    Required listing.  The following 
 individuals must be listed as candidates on the appropriate 
 major political party presidential ballot with a separate ballot 
 for each major political party:  

    (1) any individual who files an affidavit of candidacy 
 pursuant to section 204B.06 and submits the appropriate filing 
 fee or petition in place of filing fee pursuant to section 
 204B.11; and 

    (2) any individual nominated as a candidate for the 
 presidential nomination of a political party by a petition 
 submitted not later than ten weeks before the primary and 
 bearing the names of 1,000 eligible voters from each 
 congressional district.  

    In addition, each major political party's ballot must 
 contain a place for a voter to indicate a preference for having 
 delegates to the party's national convention remain uncommitted, 
 and a blank line printed below the other choices on the ballot 
 so that a voter may write in the name of a person who is not 
 listed on the ballot. 

    The candidates must be listed on the appropriate major 
 political party ballot in the order that the affidavits of 
 candidacy or nominating petitions for the candidates are filed 
 with the secretary of state. 

    Subd. 1a.    Time for filing; fee.  The period for 
 filing an affidavit of candidacy for the presidential primary 
 must begin 16 weeks before the primary and end 14 weeks before 
 the primary.  The filing fee is $500.  The period for signing 
 nominating petitions must begin 16 weeks before the primary and 
 end ten weeks before the primary. 

    Subd. 2.    Announcing candidates.  Candidates who have 
 filed an affidavit of candidacy pursuant to subdivision 1, 
 clause (1), for each political party on the presidential primary 
 ballot must be announced by the secretary of state the day after 
 filings close for the purpose of giving voters sufficient time 
 to nominate other candidates by petition.  

    Subd. 3.    Announcement.  The determination of which 
 candidates must be listed on the presidential primary ballot 
 must be made by the secretary of state not later than eight 
 weeks before the presidential primary.  The secretary of state 
 shall certify to the county auditor of each county the names of 
 all candidates in the presidential primary at least seven weeks 
 before the primary.  

    Subd. 4.    Notification.  Not later than three days 
 after the last day for filing a nominating petition pursuant to 
 subdivision 1, clause (2), the secretary of state shall notify 
 each individual whose name is to be listed on the presidential 
 primary ballot that the individual's name will be listed unless 
 the individual submits an affidavit stating that the individual 
 is not a candidate for the presidential nomination, does not 
 intend to become a candidate, and would not accept the 
 nomination.  The affidavit must be submitted to and received by 
 the secretary of state no later than eight weeks before the 
 presidential primary.  

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 2; 1990 c 603 s 5; 1993 c 223 s 23 

     207A.03 Presidential primary; how conducted. 

    Subdivision 1.    General rule.  Except as otherwise 
 provided in sections 207A.01 to 207A.07, the presidential 
 primary must be conducted, and the results canvassed and 
 returned in the manner provided by law for the state primary.  
 If a municipality which uses lever voting machines or an 
 electronic voting system determines that the use of the machines 
 or voting system would not be practical in the presidential 
 primary, the municipality may use a paper ballot for the 
 presidential primary. 

    Subd. 2.    Voter certification; ballot.  An individual 
 seeking to vote at the presidential primary shall request the 
 ballot of the party for whose candidates the individual wishes 
 to vote.  The polling place roster for the presidential primary 
 must list the names of the political parties appearing on the 
 ballot at the presidential primary.  Before receiving a ballot, 
 a voter shall sign the polling place roster and shall indicate 
 the name of the political party whose ballot the voter requested.

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 3; 1990 c 603 s 6; 1997 c 147 s 72 

     207A.04 Auditor furnished information by secretary of 
  state; ballot preparation. 

    Subdivision 1.    Notice of filing period.  Twenty weeks 
 before a presidential primary is to be held, the secretary of 
 state shall provide notice to the county auditor of each county 
 of the date of the presidential primary.  Within ten days after 
 notification by the secretary of state, each county auditor 
 shall provide notice of the date of the presidential primary to 
 each municipal clerk in the county. 

    Subd. 2.    Notice of primary.  At least 15 days before 
 the date of the presidential primary, each municipal clerk shall 
 post a public notice stating the date of the presidential 
 primary, the location of each polling place in the municipality, 
 and the hours during which the polling places in the 
 municipality will be open.  The county auditor shall post a 
 similar notice in the auditor's office with information for any 
 polling places in unorganized territory in the county.  The 
 governing body of a municipality or county may publish the 
 notice in addition to posting it.  Failure to give notice does 
 not invalidate the election.  

    Subd. 3.    Ballot preparation.  The secretary of state 
 shall prepare paper ballots, absentee ballot envelopes, ballot 
 return envelopes, election return envelopes, and summary 
 statements for use in the presidential primary.  The ballots 
 must be printed on white paper with a separate ballot for the 
 names of the candidates of each political party.  

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 4; 1990 c 603 s 7 

  207A.05 Repealed, 1990 c 603 s 12 

     207A.06 Selection of delegates; national convention 
  balloting. 

    Subdivision 1.    Apportionment of votes.  The delegates 
 to the national convention of each political party appearing on 
 the presidential primary ballot who are chosen on the basis of 
 their support for particular presidential candidates must be 
 apportioned among the various candidates of that party receiving 
 votes in the presidential primary, in proportion to their 
 respective vote totals.  

    The secretary of state shall certify to the state chair of 
 each political party appearing on the presidential primary 
 ballot the number of delegates to which each presidential 
 candidate is entitled.  

    Subd. 2.    Chosen delegates.  Delegates to the national 
 convention of each political party appearing on the presidential 
 primary ballot must be chosen by the state convention or 
 congressional district convention of that party, except as 
 otherwise provided in this subdivision.  The secretary of each 
 party's state convention or congressional district convention 
 shall promptly notify the secretary of state of the names of the 
 delegates to the national convention chosen as supporters of 
 each presidential candidate.  

    Subd. 3.    Delegate votes.  At the national convention, 
 delegates chosen because of their support for a presidential 
 candidate shall vote for that candidate on the first ballot, 
 unless they have been released from that obligation by the 
 candidate.  This subdivision does not apply to delegates to the 
 extent that it is inconsistent with the rules of the national 
 party or state party. 

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 6; 1990 c 603 s 8 

     207A.07 Use of voting machines. 

    The county auditor of each county in which lever voting 
 machines or electronic voting systems are used shall provide all 
 ballots, ballot labels, ballot cards, and other necessary 
 printed forms and supplies needed to place the ballots required 
 by sections 207A.01 to 207A.07 on the voting machines which 
 otherwise are provided by the state when paper ballots are 
 used.  The total cost of printing and providing the forms must 
 be paid by the state. 

    HIST: 1989 c 291 art 2 s 7 

     207A.08 Information on party choice. 

    Notwithstanding section 204C.18, subdivision 1, or other 
 law to the contrary, a person entitled to inspect the duplicate 
 registration file or receive a copy of a current precinct list 
 under section 201.091 must also be informed of the party choice 
 of any voter who voted in the most recent presidential primary 
 under this chapter. 

    HIST: 1990 c 603 s 9 

     207A.09 Rulemaking authority. 

    The secretary of state shall adopt rules to implement the 
 provisions of this chapter as follows: 

    (1) to implement section 207A.08; 

    (2) to determine a method for verifying the signatures on 
 nominating petitions and petitions in place of filing fees for 
 the presidential primary; 

    (3) to determine the format of the presidential primary 
 ballots; and 

    (4) to determine the manner of paying or reimbursing the 
 costs to the counties of conducting the presidential primary. 

    HIST: 1990 c 603 s 10 

     207A.10 Reimbursement of election expenses. 

    Subdivision 1.    Duties of secretary of state.  The 
 secretary of state shall reimburse the counties and 
 municipalities for expenses incurred in the administration of 
 the presidential primary from the funds appropriated by the 
 legislature for this purpose, as provided in this section.  Up 
 to $7,500 of the appropriation for reimbursement of election 
 expenses may be retained by the secretary of state to administer 
 the reimbursement program. 

    Subd. 2.    Reimbursable expenses.  The following 
 expenses are eligible for reimbursement:  salaries of election 
 judges; postage for absentee ballots; preparation of polling 
 places, in an amount not to exceed $25 per polling place; 
 preparation of electronic voting systems or lever voting 
 machines, in an amount not to exceed $50 per precinct; 
 compensation of county canvassing board members; publication of 
 the sample ballot; and compensation for temporary staff or 
 overtime payments. 

    Subd. 3.    Certification of costs.  The county auditor 
 shall certify to the secretary of state the costs incurred by 
 the county for the presidential primary.  The municipal clerk 
 shall certify to the secretary of state the costs incurred by 
 the municipality for the presidential primary.  If the total 
 amount certified by all units for temporary staff and overtime 
 payments exceeds $480,000, the secretary of state shall reduce 
 those amounts so that they do not exceed $480,000.  The 
 secretary of state shall provide each county and municipality 
 with the appropriate forms for this certification.  The 
 secretary of state may require that the county auditor or 
 municipal clerk provide documentation of actual expenditures 
 made for the presidential primary.  The certification of costs 
 must be submitted to the secretary of state no later than 60 
 days after the presidential primary.  No reimbursement of 
 expenses must be made unless the certification of costs has been 
 submitted as provided in this subdivision. 

    Subd. 4.    Apportionment of reimbursements.  If the 
 total amount of requests for reimbursement of expenses exceeds 
 the total amount appropriated to the secretary of state for this 
 purpose, the secretary of state shall proportionately reduce the 
 reimbursements so that they do not exceed the amount 
 appropriated. 

    HIST: 1992 c 511 art 1 s 4; 1993 c 223 s 24