Minnesota Legislature
Office of the Revisor of Statutes
Minnesota Session Laws - 1994, Regular Session
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