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State of Minnesota




S.F. No. 7 - Absentee Ballot
Author: Senator John Marty
Prepared by: Peter S. Wattson, Senate Counsel (651/296-3812)
Date: March 24, 2003

S.F. No. 7, as amended by the Subcommittee on Elections, is designed to make it easier to vote by absentee ballot. It authorizes any eligible voter who reasonably expects to be unable to go to the polling place on election day in the precinct where the individual maintains residence to vote by absentee ballot. It authorizes a voter to request that an absentee ballot be sent to the voter using a commercial shipper at the voter's expense. It authorizes voting by facsimile ballot by a person who is outside the United States or who becomes a patient in a health care facility during the seven days immediately before an election. Finally, it requires official supplemental ballots to be delivered to absent voters who request delivery of a supplemental ballot or replacement absentee ballot.

The substance of S.F. No. 7 has been considered in other forms in previous sessions. It passed the Senate as part of S.F. No. 1483 during the 1994 session but died on General Orders in the House of Representatives. It also passed as part of S.F. No. 35 in the 1995 session but again died on General Orders in the House. In 1997, it passed as part of S.F. No. 78 but was vetoed by the Governor because of the provisions that allowed hospital patients to vote by fax. In 1998, it was presented to the Governor as S.F. No. 2148, which left out the provisions authorizing hospital patients to vote by fax, but was again vetoed by the Governor, this time because it had been supported by only one Republican in the House and "scant more" in the Senate. In 1999, it was introduced as S.F. No. 138, heard and amended in committee, and laid on the table. In 2001, it failed on final passage in the Senate, 32-31.

Section 1 authorizes any eligible voter to vote by absentee ballot if the voter will be unable to vote in person at the polling place on election day. It strikes the specific reasons a voter must now give for being unable to vote in person.

Section 2 strikes from the absentee ballot application any reference to the reason the voter will be unable to vote in person at the polling place on election day.

Section 3 authorizes the county auditor or municipal clerk to deliver absentee ballots by facsimile and authorizes a voter to request that an absentee ballot be sent to the voter using a commercial shipper at the voter's expense.

Section 4 authorizes a voter who is outside the United States or becomes a patient in a health care facility during the seven days immediately before an election to vote by electronic facsimile ballot.

Section 5 authorizes a voter who is disabled or a participant in a residential program for adults licensed by the Commissioner of Human Services to designate an agent to deliver absentee ballots to the voter and return them by 3:00 p.m. on election day. The agent may deliver ballots to no more than three persons in an election.

Section 6 requires that public inspection of absentee ballot materials occur in the manner provided in the rules of the secretary of state.

Section 7 requires official supplemental ballots to be delivered to absent voters who request delivery of a supplemental ballot or replacement absentee ballot.

PSW:ph

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