Minnesota 2025-2026 Regular Session

Minnesota Senate Bill SF3069 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	1.1 A bill for an act
2	2	1.2 relating to elections; modifying provisions related to absentee voting; amending
3	3	1.3 Minnesota Statutes 2024, sections 203B.05, subdivision 1; 203B.121, subdivisions
4	4	1.4 4, 5; 203B.30, subdivision 3.
5	5	1.5BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
6	6	1.6 Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.05, subdivision 1, is amended to read:
7	7	1.7 Subdivision 1.Generally.The full-time clerk of any city or town shall administer the
8	8	1.8provisions of sections 203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if:
9	9	1.9 (1) the county auditor of that county has designated the clerk to administer them; or
10	10	1.10 (2) the clerk has given the county auditor of that county notice of intention to administer
11	11	1.11them.
12	12	1.12 The designation or notice must specify whether the clerk will be responsible for the
13	13	1.13administration of a ballot board as provided in section 203B.121 and whether the
14	14	1.14municipality's office will be designated an absentee voting location pursuant to section
15	15	1.15203B.081, subdivision 1, or only for early voting pursuant to section 203B.081, subdivision
16	16	1.161a.
17	17	1.17 A clerk of a city that is located in more than one county may only administer the
18	18	1.18provisions of sections 203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if the clerk has been designated
19	19	1.19by each of the county auditors or has provided notice to each of the county auditors that the
20	20	1.20city will administer absentee voting. A clerk may only administer the provisions of sections
21	21	1.21203B.04 to 203B.15 and 203B.30 if the clerk has technical capacity to access the statewide
22	22	1.22voter registration system in the secure manner prescribed by the secretary of state. The
23	23	1Section 1.
24	24	25-04554 as introduced03/05/25 REVISOR JFK/VJ
25	25	SENATE
26	26	STATE OF MINNESOTA
27	27	S.F. No. 3069NINETY-FOURTH SESSION
28	28	(SENATE AUTHORS: PORT and Boldon)
29	29	OFFICIAL STATUSD-PGDATE
30	30	Introduction and first reading03/27/2025
31	31	Referred to Elections 2.1secretary of state must identify hardware, software, security, or other technical prerequisites
32	32	2.2necessary to ensure the security, access controls, and performance of the statewide voter
33	33	2.3registration system. A clerk must receive training approved by the secretary of state on the
34	34	2.4use of the statewide voter registration system before administering this section. A clerk may
35	35	2.5not use the statewide voter registration system until the clerk has received the required
36	36	2.6training. The county auditor must notify the secretary of state of any municipal clerk who
37	37	2.7will be administering the provisions of this section and the duties that the clerk will
38	38	2.8administer.
39	39	2.9 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective upon the revisor of statutes' receipt of
40	40	2.10the early voting certification and applies to elections held on or after the 85th day after the
41	41	2.11revisor of statutes receives the certification, whichever is later.
42	42	2.12 Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.121, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
43	43	2.13 Subd. 4.Opening of envelopes.(a) After the close of business on the 19th day before
44	44	2.14the election, the ballots from secrecy ballot envelopes within the signature envelopes marked
45	45	2.15"Accepted" may be opened, duplicated as needed in the manner provided in section 206.86,
46	46	2.16subdivision 5, initialed by the members of the ballot board, and deposited in the appropriate
47	47	2.17ballot box. If more than one voted ballot is enclosed in the ballot envelope, the ballots must
48	48	2.18be returned in the manner provided by section 204C.25 for return of spoiled ballots, and
49	49	2.19may not be counted.
50	50	2.20 (b) Accepted signature envelopes must be segregated by precinct and processed in
51	51	2.21accordance with this subdivision on a precinct-by-precinct basis. Precincts within a
52	52	2.22combination polling place established in section 205A.11, subdivision 2, may be processed
53	53	2.23together. At each step, members of the ballot board must notify the official responsible for
54	54	2.24the ballot board if there is a discrepancy in the count. Any discrepancy must be noted in the
55	55	2.25ballot board incident log.
56	56	2.26 (c) Before opening accepted signature envelopes, two members of the ballot board must
57	57	2.27count and record the number of envelopes and ensure that the count matches either the
58	58	2.28number of accepted signature envelopes provided by the official responsible for the ballot
59	59	2.29board or the number of signature envelopes accepted by the ballot board that day.
60	60	2.30 (d) After ballot envelopes have been removed from the signature envelopes, two members
61	61	2.31of the ballot board must count and record the number of ballot envelopes to ensure the count
62	62	2.32matches the number of accepted signature envelopes. Any discrepancy must be noted in
63	63	2.33the ballot board incident log. The governing body responsible for the ballot board must
64	64	2.34retain all ballot envelopes through the contest period of that election.
65	65	2Sec. 2.
66	66	25-04554 as introduced03/05/25 REVISOR JFK/VJ 3.1 (e) After ballots have been removed from the ballot envelopes, two members of the
67	67	3.2ballot board must count and record the number of ballots to ensure the count matches the
68	68	3.3number of accepted signature envelopes, accounting for any empty envelopes or spoiled
69	69	3.4ballots, which must be noted on the ballot board incident log.
70	70	3.5 Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.121, subdivision 5, is amended to read:
71	71	3.6 Subd. 5.Storage and counting of absentee ballots.(a) On a day on which absentee
72	72	3.7ballots are inserted into a ballot box, two members of the ballot board must:
73	73	3.8 (1) remove the ballots from the ballot box at the end of the day;
74	74	3.9 (2) without inspecting the ballots, ensure that the number of ballots removed from the
75	75	3.10ballot box is equal to the number of voters whose absentee ballots were accepted from the
76	76	3.11tally in subdivision 4 that were to be inserted into the ballot box that day; and
77	77	3.12 (3) seal and secure all voted and unvoted ballots present in that location at the end of
78	78	3.13the day.
79	79	3.14 (b) After the polls have closed on election day, two members of the ballot board must
80	80	3.15count the ballots, tabulating the vote in a manner that indicates each vote of the voter and
81	81	3.16the total votes cast for each candidate or question. In state primary and state general elections,
82	82	3.17the results must indicate the total votes cast for each candidate or question in each precinct
83	83	3.18and report the vote totals tabulated for each precinct. The count must be recorded on a
84	84	3.19summary statement in substantially the same format as provided in section 204C.26. The
85	85	3.20ballot board shall must submit at least one completed summary statement to the county
86	86	3.21auditor or municipal clerk. The county auditor or municipal clerk may require the ballot
87	87	3.22board to submit a sufficient number of completed summary statements to comply with the
88	88	3.23provisions of section 204C.27, or the county auditor or municipal clerk may certify reports
89	89	3.24containing the details of the ballot board summary statement to the recipients of the summary
90	90	3.25statements designated in section 204C.27.
91	91	3.26 In state primary and state general elections, These vote totals shall must be added to the
92	92	3.27vote totals on the summary statements of the returns for the appropriate precinct. In other
93	93	3.28elections, these vote totals may be added to the vote totals on the summary statement of
94	94	3.29returns for the appropriate precinct or may be reported as a separate total.
95	95	3.30 The count shall must be public. No vote totals from ballots may be made public before
96	96	3.31the close of voting on election day.
97	97	3.32 (c) In addition to the requirements of paragraphs (a) and (b), if the task has not been
98	98	3.33completed previously, the members of the ballot board must verify as soon as possible, but
99	99	3Sec. 3.
100	100	25-04554 as introduced03/05/25 REVISOR JFK/VJ 4.1no later than 24 hours after the end of the hours for voting, that voters whose absentee ballots
101	101	4.2arrived after the rosters were marked or supplemental reports were generated and whose
102	102	4.3ballots were accepted did not vote in person on election day. An absentee ballot submitted
103	103	4.4by a voter who has voted in person on election day must be rejected. All other accepted
104	104	4.5absentee ballots must be opened in accordance with the procedures outlined in subdivision
105	105	4.64, except for the absentee ballots cast using the alternative procedure in section 203B.081,
106	106	4.7subdivision 3, duplicated if necessary, and counted by members of the ballot board. The
107	107	4.8vote totals from these ballots must be incorporated into the totals with the other absentee
108	108	4.9ballots and handled according to paragraph (b).
109	109	4.10 Sec. 4. Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 203B.30, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
110	110	4.11 Subd. 3.Processing of ballots.At the end of each day when early voting occurs, the
111	111	4.12early voting officials must:
112	112	4.13 (1) remove and secure ballots cast during the early voting period following the procedures
113	113	4.14in section 203B.121, subdivision 5, paragraph (a). that day, noting the date, voting location,
114	114	4.15and number of ballots cast;
115	115	4.16 (2) without inspecting the ballots, ensure that the number of ballots removed from the
116	116	4.17ballot box is equal to the number of voter certificates that were signed by voters in subdivision
117	117	4.182, paragraph (b); and
118	118	4.19 (3) seal and secure all voted and unvoted ballots present in that location at the end of
119	119	4.20the day.
120	120	4.21 The absentee ballot board must count the ballots after the polls have closed on election
121	121	4.22day following the procedures in section 203B.121, subdivision 5, paragraph (b).
122	122	4.23 EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective upon the revisor of statutes' receipt of
123	123	4.24the early voting certification and applies to elections held on or after the 85th day after the
124	124	4.25revisor of statutes receives the certification, whichever is later.
125	125	4Sec. 4.
126	126	25-04554 as introduced03/05/25 REVISOR JFK/VJ