2005 Minnesota Statutes

     204C.06 Conduct in and near polling places. 

    Subdivision 1.    Lingering near polling place.  An 
 individual shall be allowed to go to and from the polling place 
 for the purpose of voting without unlawful interference.  No one 
 except an election official or an individual who is waiting to 
 register or to vote shall stand within 100 feet of the entrance 
 to a polling place.  The entrance to a polling place is the 
 doorway or point of entry leading into the room or area where 
 voting is occurring.  

    Subd. 2.    Individuals allowed in polling place; 
 identification.  (a) Representatives of the secretary of 
 state's office, the county auditor's office, and the municipal 
 or school district clerk's office may be present at the polling 
 place to observe election procedures.  Except for these 
 representatives, election judges, sergeants-at-arms, and 
 challengers, an individual may remain inside the polling place 
 during voting hours only while voting or registering to vote, 
 providing proof of residence for an individual who is 
 registering to vote, or assisting a handicapped voter or a voter 
 who is unable to read English.  During voting hours no one 
 except individuals receiving, marking, or depositing ballots 
 shall approach within six feet of a voting booth, unless 
 lawfully authorized to do so by an election judge.  

    (b) Teachers and elementary or secondary school students 
 participating in an educational activity authorized by section 
 204B.27, subdivision 7, may be present at the polling place 
 during voting hours. 

    (c) Each official on duty in the polling place must wear an 
 identification badge that shows their role in the election 
 process.  The badge must not show their party affiliation. 

    Subd. 3.    Damaging or removing election materials; gross 
 misdemeanor.  No individual shall intentionally:  

    (a) Tear down, mutilate, deface or otherwise damage during 
 the hours of voting any voter instruction poster placed inside 
 or outside of a polling place by an election judge or other 
 election official; or 

    (b) Remove from the polling place before the time for 
 voting ends any ballots prepared for use at the election or any 
 supplies or conveniences placed in voting booths for use by the 
 voters, except as authorized by law.  

    A violation of this subdivision is a gross misdemeanor.  

    Subd. 4.    Damaging or removing election materials; 
 felony.  No individual shall intentionally:  

    (a) Remove from a polling place any election file or 
 election register, except as authorized by law; 

    (b) Damage, deface, or mutilate any ballot, election file 
 or election register or any item of information contained on it, 
 except as authorized by law; or 

    (c) Add anything to a ballot, election file or election 
 register, except as authorized by law.  

    A violation of this subdivision is a felony.  

    Subd. 5.    Sergeant-at-arms.  The election judges may 
 appoint a sergeant-at-arms when necessary to keep the peace or 
 otherwise to assist them.  An election judge may request a 
 sergeant-at-arms or a peace officer to arrest or remove from the 
 polling place any individual who, despite a warning to desist, 
 engages in disorderly conduct.  A sergeant-at-arms or a peace 
 officer shall not otherwise interfere in any manner with voters. 

    Subd. 6.    Peace officers.  Except when summoned by an 
 election judge to restore the peace or when voting or 
 registering to vote, no peace officer shall enter or remain in a 
 polling place or stand within 50 feet of the entrance of a 
 polling place.  

    Subd. 7.    Use of intoxicating liquor; prohibition; 
 penalty.  During the time an election is being held it is a 
 misdemeanor to bring intoxicating liquor or 3.2 percent malt 
 liquor into a polling place, to drink intoxicating liquor or 3.2 
 percent malt liquor in a polling place, or to be intoxicated in 
 a polling place.  The election judges shall not permit an 
 obviously intoxicated individual to vote or remain in the 
 polling place for any purpose.  

    Subd. 8.    Access for news media.  A news media 
 representative may enter a polling place during voting hours 
 only to observe the voting process.  A media representative must 
 present photo identification to the head election judge upon 
 arrival at the polling place, along with either a recognized 
 media credential or written statement from a local election 
 official attesting to the media representative's credentials.  A 
 media representative must not: 

    (1) approach within six feet of a voter; 

    (2) converse with a voter while in the polling place; 

    (3) make a list of persons voting or not voting; or 

    (4) interfere with the voting process. 

    HIST: 1981 c 29 art 5 s 6; 1984 c 471 s 10; 1984 c 515 s 1; 
 1986 c 444; 1987 c 266 art 1 s 35; 1989 c 291 art 1 s 12; 1991 c 
 237 s 5; 1991 c 249 s 31; 1993 c 223 s 12; 2004 c 293 art 2 s 24; 2005 c 
 113 s 1; 2005 c 156 art 6 s 41