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RELEVANT LINKS: League of Minnesota Cities Information Memo: 1/4/2016 Regulating Peddlers, Solicitors and Transient Merchants Page 3 B.Solicitors and canvassers Excelsior Baking Co. v. City of Northfield, 247 Minn. 387, 77 N.W.2d 188 (1956). See Edwards v. City of Reno, 103 Nev. 347, 742 P.2d 486 (1987). A solicitor also engages in door-to-door activities. However, unlike a peddler, a merchant solicitor goes from place to place and only obtains orders for goods or services that will be delivered or performed at a later date. Solicitors do not carry the merchandise they are offering for sale with them. Most often, a solicitor will use samples, or carry catalogues illustrating the goods or services available. All Parks Alliance for Change v. Uniprop Manufactured Housing Cmtys. Income Fund, 732 N.W.2d 189 (Minn. 2007). Although this memo often uses the terms “solicitors” and “solicitation” interchangeably with “canvassers” and “canvassing,” canvassing refers to the practice of going from location to location with the primary purpose of furthering religious, social, or political advocacy. Unlike solicitors, financial profit is not the canvassers’ primary motivation. A canvasser (sometimes known as an advocate) may: •Ask for signatures on a petition. •Request support for a political candidate or position. •Espouse religious beliefs or causes. •Seek donations, organization memberships, or other financial support for their religious, social, or political organizations. •Take orders for goods, to be delivered at a later time, in order to raise money for a non-profit or other charitable organization’s operations. See Part IV-Constitutional implications. The regulation of these types of door-to-door advocates involves many basic constitutional rights, including a canvasser’s freedom of speech and possibly freedom of religion, a solicitor’s Commerce Clause protections, and a homeowner’s privacy and property rights. Minn. Stat. § 412.221, subd. 19. Although statutory cities are specifically provided the power to “restrain or license and regulate” solicitors and canvassers (most home rule charter cities have similar language within their charters), most legal authorities suggest their authority is actually more limited. See Part IV-section C Commerce Clause. A.G. Op. 59a-32 (Jan. 13, 1961). See Part V-section G Registration. The major restriction on local licensing of solicitors is the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. The Minnesota attorney general has advised that because states are prohibited from interfering with interstate commerce, local governments cannot collect license fees from solicitors who take orders in one state for goods to be delivered in the future from another state. In contrast, a municipal ordinance requiring all solicitors, including interstate merchants, to simply register with local authorities before engaging in their business activities may be a reasonable local regulation of interstate commerce.