10-09-2019 Workshop & Council Packet

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RELEVANT LINKS: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 5/10/2019 Newspaper Publication Page 18 • The time of the election. • The location of each polling place. • The offices to be filled. • The propositions or questions to be voted upon at the election. Minn. Stat. § 410.01. A fourth class city may give 10 days’ posted notice instead of publishing notice of the municipal general election if the council so chooses. (A fourth class city is a city with a population of 10,000 or less.) c. Sample ballots Minn. Stat. § 205.16, subds. 2, 3. Minn. Stat. § 645.11. A sample ballot must be published in the city’s official newspaper for every municipal election. The notice must be published at least two weeks before the election. A city council of a fourth class city (city with a population of 10,000 or less) may dispense with the publication requirement. In addition to the newspaper publication, at least two weeks before the election, the city clerk must make the sample ballot available for inspection in the city clerk’s office. The sample ballot must also be posted in each polling place on election day. d. Testing of voting system Minn. Stat. § 206.83. The official in charge of elections must have the voting system tested to ensure it functions properly before an election. Public notice of the time and place of the test must be given at least two days in advance by publication once in the official newspaper. B. City newsletters See Part I-section A Qualified newspapers. Cities sometimes issue reports or other publications, such as city newsletters, to inform the public of official city activities and events. City newsletters generally are not considered qualified newspapers. In order to be such a newspaper, it must meet the same criteria that any other newspaper must have to qualify. Few city newsletters are likely to meet these criteria. See Part III-section A-4 Advertisements for bids for more information about alternative dissemination of bid advertisements, requests for information, and requests for proposals. Announcements and copies of city documents available on city web sites generally do not replace newspaper publication requirements. If certain conditions are met, however, the posting of bid advertisement s, requests for proposals, or requests for information on a city web site will satisfy statutory requirements for newspaper publication. C. Publishing in additional newspapers Minn. Stat. § 331A.05, subd. 5. The council may increase the frequency of public notice beyond the minimum required by a statute. It may also choose to publish notice in other newspapers in addition to the city’s official newspaper.