Read the full stored bill text
A bill for an act
relating to elections; requiring election judges to transfer the record of results from
a precinct to a central reporting location using a physical means of communication;
requiring that postelection review procedures separately review absentee and early
voted ballots from ballots cast in a precinct on election day; amending Minnesota
Statutes 2024, sections 206.845, subdivision 2; 206.89, subdivisions 3, 4.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 206.845, subdivision 2, is amended to read:
Subd. 2.
Transmission to central reporting location.
After the close of the polls, the
head election judge must create a printed record of the results of the election for that precinct.
After the record has been printed, the
deleted text begin
head election judge in a precinct that employs automatic
tabulating equipment may transmit the accumulated tally for each device to a central reporting
location using a telephone, modem, Internet, or other electronic connection. During the
canvassing period, the results transmitted electronically must be considered unofficial until
the canvassing board has performed a complete reconciliation of the results
deleted text end
new text begin
election judges
must transfer the record of the results by disk, tape, or other physical means of
communication to the central reporting location
new text end
.
Sec. 2.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 206.89, subdivision 3, is amended to read:
Subd. 3.
Scope and conduct of review.
new text begin
(a)
new text end
The county canvassing board shall appoint
the postelection review official as defined in subdivision 1. The postelection review must
be conducted of the votes cast for president or governor; United States senator; and United
States representative. The postelection review official may conduct postelection review of
the votes cast for additional offices.
new text begin
(b)
new text end
The postelection review must be conducted in public at the location where the voted
ballots have been securely stored after the state general election or at another location chosen
by the county canvassing board. The postelection review official for each precinct selected
must conduct the postelection review and may be assisted by election judges designated by
the postelection review official for this purpose. The party balance requirement of section
204B.19
applies to election judges designated for the review. The postelection review must
consist of a manual count of the ballots used in the precincts selected and must be performed
in the manner provided by section
204C.21
. The postelection review must be conducted in
the manner provided for recounts under section
204C.361
to the extent practicable.
new text begin
The
postelection review must count a precinct's absentee and early voted ballots separately from
the ballots cast in the precinct's polling place on election day.
new text end
The review must be completed
no later than one day before the meeting of the state canvassing board to certify the results
of the state general election.
Sec. 3.
Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 206.89, subdivision 4, is amended to read:
Subd. 4.
Standard of acceptable performance by voting system.
A comparison of the
results compiled by the voting system with the postelection review described in this section
must show that the results of the electronic voting system differed from the manual count
of the offices reviewed by no more than two votes in a precinct where fewer than 1,200
voters cast ballots, three votes in a precinct where between 1,200 and 1,599 voters cast
ballots, four votes in a precinct where between 1,600 and 1,999 voters cast ballots, or five
votes in a precinct where 2,000 or more voters cast ballots.
new text begin
The performance of a voting
system used to tabulate a precinct's absentee and early voted ballots must be reviewed
separately from the voting system used to tabulate the ballots cast in the precinct's polling
place on election day. Each system is separately subject to the performance standard required
by this subdivision based on the number of ballots tabulated using that system.
new text end
Valid votes
that have been marked by the voter outside the vote targets or using a manual marking
device that cannot be read by the voting system must not be included in making the
determination whether the voting system has met the standard of acceptable performance
for any precinct.