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unknowingly registered to vote or voted <br />before their rights were restored. <br />SD-70. Write-in Candidates in City <br />Elections <br />Issue: For federal, state and county offices, <br />write-in candidates are totaled together as <br />one number for write-in votes. If a candidate <br />wants the write-in votes to be individually <br />recorded, the candidate must file a written <br />request with the Secretary of State no later <br />than seven days before the general or special <br />Election Day. This provides any declared <br />write-in candidate the same provisions for <br />tabulation as a candidate whose name is <br />printed on the ballot. Because this <br />requirement does not exist in city elections, <br />city election officials are required to take <br />considerable time and resources to count and <br />individually record write-in votes cast, many <br />of which are frivolous. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports legislation to: <br />a) give cities the option to require that <br />write-in candidates for local elective <br />offices file a formal request with the <br />chief election official at least seven <br />days before the city election if they <br />wish to have their write-in votes <br />individually recorded; and <br />b) allow the city clerk to only compile <br />and report write-in votes for specific <br />candidates if the total number of <br />write-in votes for an office is greater <br />than or equal to the number of votes <br />received by the candidate appearing <br />on the ballot receiving the fewest <br />number of votes. <br />SD-71. Ranked Choice Voting <br />Issue: Current law allows charter cities to <br />consider and adopt Ranked Choice Voting <br />(RCV) as an alternative voting method in <br />local elections. State statute does not extend <br />this authority to statutory cities. <br />Additionally, there are no statewide <br />standards for conducting RCV. The lack of <br />consistent guidelines on how to effectively <br />implement a RCV system imposes <br />significant challenges for election <br />administrators and voters. <br />Response: The League of Minnesota <br />Cities supports legislation that would give <br />statutory cities the same authority given <br />to charter cities to consider and adopt <br />RCV. The League of Minnesota Cities <br />also supports statewide standards for <br />those cities that choose to adopt RCV to <br />ensure it is implemented consistently <br />throughout the state to give voters <br />confidence in the fairness of the <br />alternative process of casting their ballots <br />and in the outcome of such elections. <br />SD-72. Posting Campaign Finance <br />Reports Online <br />Issue: The 2014 Legislature passed a law <br />requiring the filing officer of a local <br />government to post all campaign reports <br />required to be filed with the local <br />government online The law does not change <br />what reports must be filed and only requires <br />the posting of reports online if a city has a <br />website. The filing officer must post the <br />reports on the city's website as soon as <br />possible, but no later than 30 days after <br />receipt of the report. The reports must be <br />available on the city's website for four years <br />from the date the report was posted to the <br />website. <br />While posting the reports online may be <br />more convenient for citizens and city staff <br />alike as it will replace the physical <br />distribution of reports upon request, the time <br />required to make the report available may be <br />difficult for maintenance of city websites. <br />League of Minnesota Cities <br />2018 City Policies Page 47 <br />