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Bill addresses how elections should be held in times of emergency

Provisions for holding an election during a time of emergency were passed by the House Friday as it voted 118-14 to pass the omnibus elections policy bill.

Sponsored by Rep. Tim Sanders (R-Blaine) and Sen. Katie Sieben (DFL-Newport), HF2688*/SF2381 was amended to substitute the House language into the bill and it will now head back to the Senate.

“Not everything we want is in the bill, but I think overall this is a very good step forward,” Sanders said.

Among the policy provisions in the bill are those that would:

  • allow combined polling places to be established in case of an emergency;
  • establish procedures for changing polling places in an emergency;
  • permits local election officials to keep polling places open up to an hour longer in the event a polling place is combined or moved due to an emergency;
  • establish the procedure for using special elections to fill school board vacancies; and
  • make a number of changes to how elections are administered.

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