HF 2474 Minnesota House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Absentee voting provisions modified.

HF 2474 modifies Minnesota's absentee voting rules to clarify administrative responsibilities and enhance ballot processing procedures. It requires city or town clerks to obtain county auditor approval or provide written notice before administering absentee voting, and mandates they have technical capacity to access the statewide voter registration system after receiving state-approved training. The bill also adds specific counting checks during ballot processing: election workers must verify envelope and ballot counts at multiple stages and document discrepancies in an incident log. These changes directly affect local election officials (city clerks and county auditors) and apply to absentee voting procedures for all Minnesota elections held 85 days after the bill's effective date.

Bill status in committee 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Mar 17, 2025 Last action Mar 26, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduction → 1st Engrossment · 5 edits · Mar 26, 2025

MODERATE

This bill updates Minnesota's absentee voting procedures by extending the deadline for submitting applications from one day to seven days before an election, provided they are received by 5:00 p.m. on the seventh day. It introduces new requirements for electronic applications, mandating that applicants provide specific identification numbers and allowing the Secretary of State to replace the online form with voting information after the deadline. The bill also expands emergency and disability accommodations by allowing electronic transmission of ballots to deployed emergency responders and voters with print disabilities, while removing the 'whichever is later' clause from the early voting certification timeline.

Scope change

The bill significantly expands the window for absentee ballot applications and adds specific provisions for electronic voting access for emergency responders and voters with disabilities.

TIMELINE

Extended the deadline for submitting absentee ballot applications from one day to seven days before an election, with a specific cutoff time of 5:00 p.m. on the seventh day.

Removed the 'whichever is later' condition from the effective date of early voting certification, making the law effective immediately upon receipt of certification.

REQUIREMENT

Added new requirements for electronic absentee applications, including the submission of driver's license or state ID numbers and the last four digits of Social Security numbers.

ELIGIBILITY

Created new eligibility for electronic ballot transmission for trained emergency response providers and utility workers deployed during state emergencies.

Created new eligibility for electronic ballot transmission for voters with print disabilities to ensure accessible voting materials.

Floor votes

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No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Mar 26, 2025

Lower · Passed

Committee report, to adopt as amended

lower

Mar 17, 2025

Introduced

Introduction and first reading, referred to Elections Finance and Government Operations

lower

1 primary · 9 co-sponsors