Agenda - Charter Commission - 02/13/2019

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The first clause of the third sentence is vague and duplicative. As to ballots, this is language is duplicative of language dictating that "[u]pon receipt of the proper filing fee, the clerk shall place the name of the candidate on the official ballot without partisan designation." Minn. Stat. § 205.13, subd. 1; see also Minn. Stat. § 200.02, subd. 28 (designating municipal offices as nonpartisan). As to non -ballot material, this is probably unnecessary, as cities generally publish very little information about candidates directly. Further, there is no definition of "other material," such that it is not clear if this is specific to material created by the City, or if this would prevent any party identification by the candidate on their own materials? Certainly, the latter could be problematic under the First Amendment. The second clause of the third sentence, regarding the arranging of the candidate names on the ballots, is in conflict with state law. State statute requires that "[t]he names shall be arranged on city ballots in the manner provided for the state elections." Minn. Stat. § 205.17, subd, 1. For state law, the names are rotated along precinct lines. Id., subd. 2. Minn. R. 8220.0825 and 8250.1810. As to the fourth sentence, there are significant statutory requirements on how and when the ballots must be "counted," so the inclusion of this word does not seem to add much to the discussion. Similarly, saying that the ballots must be "preserved" does not give a level of detail that would be sufficient to comply with the relevant requirements. The Minnesota records retention schedule' requires that voted ballots be preserved for 22 months except in the case of a challenge, and unvoted ballots destroyed after certification. The Charter language does not contain an end date on which ballots no longer need to be preserved, thus creating an argument that the ballots must be preserved forever. The final clause of this sentence, stating that the clerk is the custodian of the records, is completely duplicative of statute. See Minn. Stat. § 205.185, subd. 3(c) ("[T]he clerk shall be the final custodian of the ballots and the returns of the election."). As to the final sentence, the requirements that sample ballots be posted and preserved are different from, but not necessarily in conflict with state statute. State statute requires that the sample ballot be published and posted two weeks ahead of the election, while the Charter requires that the ballot be posted in the polling place one week ahead of the election. See Minn. Stat. § 205.16, subds. 2 and 3. Given that the polling places include non -City buildings, the posting of the sample ballot a week ahead of the election seems onerous and unnecessary, particularly in light of the pre-existing statutory requirement. 4 https://www.mcfoa.org/verticaUsites/%7B067FFB58-E3CD-42BA-9FB1- 11EFC7933168%7D/uploads/General_Records_Retention Schedule_2018.pdf 6