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2020 Op. Minn. Att'y Gen. 1 (2020)

handle is hein.sag/sagmn0088 and id is 1 raw text is: SECRETARY OF STATE: ELECTIONS: POLLING PLACES: County auditors may designate voting site(s) for early voting in three ways: (1) absentee balloting alone during entire 46-day period before election; (2) both ballot counter-ballot box voting and absentee balloting during 7-day period before election; or (3) absentee balloting during 46-day period, with additional voter option of ballot counter-ballot box voting during final 7 days of period. Minn. Stat. § 203B.081, subds. 1, 3. 185a-5 (cr ref. 385a) The Office of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison helping people afford their lives and live with dignity and respect - www.ag.state.mn.us January 2, 2020 Steve Simon Minnesota Secretary of State 180 State Office Building 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. St. Paul, MN 55155-1299 Re: Request for Opinion Concerning Dear Secretary Simon: I thank you for your December 13, 2019, letter requesting an opinion regarding the meaning of Minn. Stat. § 203B.081, subdivisions 1 and 3. FACTS You report that the Office of Secretary of State has a longstanding interpretation of section 203B.081 that it has provided to county and local election officials when they have requested an interpretation. Under your Office's longstanding reading, section 203B.081 requires that any polling place designated by a county auditor for use as an in-person absentee balloting site must be open and available to the public for the entire 46-day absentee balloting period. The legislature amended the statute to add subdivision 3 in 2016. 2016 Minn. Laws ch. 161, art. I, § 2, at 593-94. You note that your Office has not until recently considered the effect on your interpretation of the alternative procedure provided by the new subdivision. You indicate that a number of jurisdictions are now establishing absentee voting locations for elections in 2020 that they intend to operate for less than the entire 46-day absentee balloting period. In this context, you ask whether section 203B.081 permits a county auditor to (1) designate a location for in-person absentee balloting that operates for only a portion of the 46-day absentee balloting period or (2) establish locations for the alternate procedures identified in subdivision 3 that have not also served as locations for in-person absentee balloting locations for the entire 46-day period. LEGAL ANALYSIS The statute in question provides, in pertinent part: Subdivision 1. Location; timing. An eligible voter may vote by absentee ballot in the office of the county auditor and at any other polling place designated 445 Minnesota Street, Suite 1400, St. Paul, MN 55101-2131 Office: (651) 296-3353 - Toll Free: (800) 657-3787 - Minnesota Relay: (800) 627-3529 An Equal Opportunity Employer Who Values Diversity -(| L, Printed on 30% Post-Consumer Material Paper

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