Agenda - Council - 01/24/2017 - Laserfiche WebLink

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7. Administering Absentee Balloting ISSUE. Eligible voters in Minnesota may vote by absentee ballot prior to Election Day. Starting 46 days before the election, a voter can request an application for an absentee ballot and if approved, receive and cast an absentee ballot in one visit to their county or city election offices. Ballots can also be requested, applied for and received by mail and returned by the voter to the election office by 3:00 p.m. on Election Day or by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day if delivered by mail or package delivery. Absentee balloting results are not known until combined with polling place results when the polls close on Election Day. For those voting absentee in-person, the absentee ballot application process is burdensome and confusing as voters expect the same process they encounter in their polling place on Election Day. The application process should be replaced by having the voter verify their identity on a paper or electronic roster. Currently electronic signatures are not allowed by state law; having the authority to use electronic signatures would make the process more efficient. Streamlining the voter check-in procedures would increase efficiency and decrease the time voters spend in line waiting to cast their absentee ballot. Seven days before Election Day, elections administrators can begin processing absentee ballots received by mail and in-person absentee voters can place their ballots directly into a tabulator. Currently,a voter can request to place their ballot in a series of envelopes similar to those returned by mail to be processed after they have left the building. Following legislative changes in 2016 allowing voters to place their ballot into a tabulator,few, if any,voters request to place their ballot into envelopes. State law allows alternative sites for conducting absentee balloting but requires that these sites remain open for the full 46 days prior to Election Day. Because of the increase in voting before Election Day, cities should have the authority to conduct in-person absentee balloting in alternative sites for the time period during which voters are allowed to place their ballots directly into a tabulator. Additionally, to respond to the voter demand to vote early,this time period should be increased from seven to 14 days before Election Day. Current law allows for in-person absentee voting until 5:00 p.m. on the day before Election Day. This does not leave adequate time for election officials to process absentee ballots, prepare supplemental lists indicating which voters have already cast absentee ballots and deliver the lists to precincts prior to opening of the polls on Election Day. The current absentee voting process further requires that additional supplemental lists of final absentee voters be delivered to the polls after the last mail delivery on Election Day and often leads to administrative challenges and increased potential for errors in the process. As more and more voters choose to vote early with absentee balloting, improvements must be made to increase efficiency of administering absentee balloting before Election Day, reduce the potential for errors, and to improve voter experience Similar language as 2017 LMC Legislative Platform,SD-66 RECOMMENDATIONS: A. Replacing the in-person absentee ballot application process with paper or electronic rosters similarly to those used in polling places on Election Day and allow voters to use an electronic signature for electronic rosters; B. Eliminating the option to place an in-person absentee ballot in a series of envelopes instead of a tabulator; C. Increasing the time period that an in-person absentee voter can place their ballot directly into a tabulator from seven to 14 days; D. Allowing alternative, in-person absentee voting sites to be established 14 days prior to Election Day instead of the full 46 days currently required by state law; E. Establishing an earlier deadline for ending in-person absentee voting; and I:\Legislative Platforms\2017\2017 Legislative Initiatives 011817.docx 2of12