Election filing dates move up

Many would-be political office-holders will have to make their minds up by June 1 this year in order to get on the November ballot. That's just one of the effects of Minnesota's new law moving the date of the primary to the second Tuesday in August. That date will be Aug. 10 this year.

Rather than the July filing dates federal, state and county candidates have grown used to, the expedited schedule now sets a filing period of May 18 to June 1 for those offices. Federal candidates file with the secretary of state's office. State candidates, including judges, may file with the secretary of state's office or in the county where they live. County candidates may file with the county auditor. For these posts, June 3 is the last date to withdraw.

The filing period for municipal elections (city, townships, school districts and hospital districts with no primaries) is Aug. 3 to Aug. 17. City and town candidates file with their city or town clerk. School board candidates file with the district's school clerk. Hospital board candidates file with the city or town clerk where they live. For these candidates Aug. 19 is the last date to withdraw.

Moving the primary to August is a change that Crow Wing County Auditor Deborah Erickson supports because election officials barely had enough time to prepare and send out absentee ballots between a September primary and a November general election.

"I think it's a great idea," she said.

The losers, in many cases, were military personnel or other Americans who lived overseas, because they did not receive ballots soon enough to have their votes counted. Erickson said studies indicated that military ballots were about twice as likely to be rejected because they were late as other absentee ballots. Her office has received absentee ballots as late as December from overseas.

"It will give us a little hint of breathing room," she said.

Municipalities that wish to establish a primary must do so by April 15, Erickson said. The new state law also means that the campaign lawn signs will appear earlier. As of June 25, campaign signs may be up regardless of any local ordinance.

Primary absentee voting begins June 25. General absentee voting begins Sept. 17.

The schedule for recruitment and training of election judges also will be affected, according to the county auditor. Political parties must have their lists of election judges to the auditor by May 1. Training will take place in the last half of July.

This year, Erickson said, the Crow Wing County Fair will be the week before the state primary.

Finding enough election judges is always a struggle, Erickson said. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact their city or town clerk, political party officials or the county auditor's office.

College or high school students, as young as 16, are eligible to be election judges, Erickson said. About 12 to 15 young people were excused from class to serve as election judges in the last election.

"It's a great opportunity for them," she said.

Erickson, co-chair of the Elections Committee of the Minnesota Association of County Officials, said legislation resulting from a bipartisan conference, which is aimed to streamline and improve vote tabulation, appears to be on the fast track in the Legislature.

The provisions of the legislation, she said, include allowing for centralized processing, which means that final tallies do not have to be conducted at the polling sites. As a result, Erickson said, the absentee ballots could be counted by the time the polls close on Election Day. The election legislation, which she expects to become law, also calls for ballot reconciliation at the precinct level to track the chain of custody. This would standardize throughout the state a practice that Crow Wing County has followed for years, Erickson said.

MIKE O'ROURKE may be reached at mike.orourke@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5860.