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The city clerk shall prepare and have printed at the expense of <br />the city the necessary ballots or other required material for <br />such election. <br />The ballots or other material shall contain no political party <br />designation of any candidate and the names of the candidates <br />for each office may be arranged on the ballot alphabetically <br />according to the surname of each candidate. The ballots or the <br />results shall be counted and preserved and the city clerk shall <br />be the final custodian of such ballots or returns for the city. <br />A sample ballot or a facsimile representation of the ballot <br />shall be posted at the place of election at least one week <br />before such election by the city clerk, whose duty it is to <br />preserve such sample ballots. <br />Commentary: <br />The first clause of the first sentence, related to the timing of the filing of an <br />affidavit, conflicts with state statute and is therefore preempted. State law dictates that, <br />"[i]n a city nominating candidates at a primary, an affidavit of candidacy for a city office <br />voted on in November must be filed no more than 84 days nor less than 70 days before <br />the city primary." See Minn. Stat. § 205.13, subd. la (84 days is 12 weeks, 70 days is <br />10). Thus, this provision is preempted. Numerically, the timing in the Charter language <br />coincides with the timing for filing of affidavits for a "municipal general election held in <br />March in any year, or a special election not held in conjunction with another election," <br />but no other circumstance. Id. Given the conflict between these provisions, the presence <br />of primary -possible language creates a complication that does not need to exist. The <br />second portion of the first sentence is fine, but this language does not contemplate the <br />filing of a petition in place of the fee. See id., subd. 4. The amount of fees charged with <br />the affidavit of candidacy is one of the lone instances in which the presence of a Charter <br />is helpful, in that fees for candidates are set by statute except that "[a] home rule charter <br />city that sets filing fees by authority provided in city charter is not subject to the fee <br />limits in this section." Id., subd. 3(c). <br />The second sentence is entirely unnecessary, because that authority is given by <br />statute. "The municipal clerk shall prepare and have printed the necessary election <br />materials, including ballots, for a municipal election." Minn. Stat. § 205.185, subd. 1.; <br />see also Minn. Stat. § 205.17, subd. 1 ("In all statutory and home rule charter cities, and <br />in all towns, the municipal clerk shall have printed the official ballot containing the <br />names of all candidates for municipal offices and municipal ballot questions."). <br />5 <br />