Simon, 010220 MNAGO, AGO 185A-5

• Case Date: January 02, 2020
• Court: Minnesota

Steve Simon AGO 185A-5 No. 185A-5 Minnesota Attorney General Opinion State of Minnesota Office of the Attorney General January 2, 2020          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.          (cr ref. 385a)          Steve Simon          January 2, 2020          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...