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first sentence applies to "a city office voted on in November," the timing set out in that <br />clause of the Charter is inconsistent with state law. <br />The second portion of the first sentence, related to paying a fee with the affidavit <br />of candidacy, is inconsistent with state law that permits candidates for office to file a <br />nominating petition in place of the filing fee. Minn. Stat. § 205.13, subd. 4; see also <br />Minn. Stat. § 204B .11, subd. 2 (d) (setting the required number of signatures for a <br />petition for an office with a filing fee set by charter). That language also ignores the <br />potential for voters to apply for the candidacy of another voter. Minn. Stat. § 205.13, <br />subd. 1. The proposed language simply adds language recognizing the potential for an <br />application for candidacy or a nominating petition in place of a filing fee. Language <br />permitting the filing fee to be set by ordinance must be retained in order for the City to <br />have that authority. See id., subd. 3(c) ("A home rule charter city that sets filing fees by <br />authority provided in city charter is not subject to the fee limits in this section."). In <br />order to retain that authority for all elections, if the first clause is clarified to apply to only <br />non -November special elections, the second clause should be separated into a separate <br />sentence. If the first clause is remade in a different manner, the council could also <br />append a clause at the end of the sentence recognizing the potential for a petition to be <br />filed in lieu of a fee. <br />The second sentence is not inconsistent with state law. "The municipal clerk shall <br />prepare and have printed the necessary election materials, including ballots, for a <br />municipal election." Minn. Stat. § 205.185, subd. 1; see also Minn. Stat. § 205.17, subd. <br />1 ("In all statutory and home rule charter cities, and in all towns, the municipal clerk shall <br />have printed the official ballot containing the names of all candidates for municipal <br />offices and municipal ballot questions."). <br />The second clause of the third sentence, regarding the arranging of the candidate <br />names on the ballots, conflicts with state law. State statute requires that "[t]he names <br />shall be arranged on city ballots in the manner provided for the state elections." Minn. <br />Stat. § 205.17, subd, 1. For state elections, the names are rotated along precinct lines. <br />Id., subd. 2; see also Minn. R. 8220.0825 and 8250.1810. <br />The fourth sentence, related to counting and preserving ballots or returns, treads <br />on an area that is fully controlled by state law. If the Charter contained specifics on how <br />ballots should be counted, for example, that language could conflict with state law. <br />Given its general nature, however, this language could be clarified as a direction of policy <br />rather than a statement on a topic already covered by state law. For example, this <br />sentence directs the preservation of ballots, but does not indicate the form that they must <br />be preserved in or how long they must be preserved. The Minnesota records retention <br />schedule requires that voted ballots be preserved for 22 months except in the case of a <br />challenge, and unvoted ballots destroyed after certification. In order to avoid any <br />6 <br />