Butler v City of Saint Paul (1) - Laserfiche WebLink

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Butler v. City of Saint Paul, 936 N.W.2d 478 (2019) © 2022 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.7 4 The district court found that 111 of these signers were registered to vote in jurisdictions other than Saint Paul and that there was no record evidence to support Butler's assertion that the other 36 signers were living in Saint Paul during the petition period. 5 At oral argument, the City's counsel asserted that for a person to be eligible to sign a petition to amend the Saint Paul City Charter, the person must be registered to vote in Saint Paul. The City explained that a person who is registered to vote at an address outside of Saint Paul but who has moved since that registration and now maintains residence in Saint Paul is likely eligible to sign the petition. But because voter residency is determined in accord with principles largely based on an individual's intent, the City contends that the city clerk is unable to verify that the signer is a Saint Paul resident without some record evidence. See, e.g., Minn. Stat. § 200.031(1) (2018) (“The residence of an individual is in the precinct where the individual's home is located, from which the individual has no present intention of moving, and to which, whenever the individual is absent, the individual intends to return.”). The City argues that the city clerk therefore did not err in relying on the residence listed in the SVRS to determine whether the signers are residents of Saint Paul. 6 See Minn. Stat. § 204B.071 (2018) (“The secretary of state shall adopt rules governing the manner in which petitions required for any election in this state are circulated, signed, filed, and inspected.”). During oral argument, Butler's counsel argued that Minn. Stat. § 204B.071 grants the secretary of state authority to adopt rules only relating to nominating and referendum petitions and therefore Minn. R. 8205.1050 does not apply to charter-amendment petitions. This assertion is incorrect. Chapter 204B “applies to all elections held in this state except as otherwise provided by law.” Minn. Stat. § 204B.02 (2018). Section 204B.071 falls under the section titled “Candidate Nomination and Filing,” Minn. Stat. §§ 204B.03–.12 (2018) (emphasis added), which includes filing petitions to place a charter amendment on the ballot. See Minn. Stat. § 204B.071; see also In re Referendum to Amend City of Grand Rapids, Minn. Mun. Elections Ordinance No. 04-08-11, No. A05-2350, 2006 WL 1985595, at *2 (Minn. App. July 18, 2006) (“Petition forms required for any Minnesota election are governed by rules adopted by the secretary of state.”). 7 That is not to say that a person who lists a residence address on her voter registration is forever tied to that address. In fact, the parties agree that if a registered voter did not reside “in St. Paul in the previous election but now resides in St. Paul and remains a registered voter, that person is eligible to sign a petition under section 410.12.” Butler, 923 N.W.2d at 49. End of Document © 2022 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.