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Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State <br /> 2021 Redistricting Guide <br />22 <br />4.3.2.8 Receive corrections, if any, of state plans <br />After adoption of the state redistricting plan, the Secretary of State reviews the plan for errors. If errors are discovered, <br />the Secretary of State has the responsibility to notify the municipal clerk and candidates for office in the affected area. If <br />an error is discovered, the Secretary of State will work directly with any affected municipal clerk at that time. (M.S. 2.91 <br />subd. 3) <br />If municipalities discover errors in the state legislative or congressional district plans they should immediately notify the <br />Secretary of State’s Office by sending a description of the error along with a map of the affected area. <br />4.3.2.9 Posting state redistricting plans <br />While not specifically required, it is recommended that municipal clerks post copies of the relevant portions of state <br />legislative and congressional redistricting plans to provide information about the new state districts to the public. This <br />may be particularly important in areas where district boundaries have changed and where voters may have questions <br />about the new plans. <br />4.3.3 Describing precinct boundaries <br />There are different ways to describe precinct boundaries, depending on the situation. In a municipality with only one <br />precinct, the precinct boundaries may be defined as following the municipal boundaries. However, when a municipality <br />has two or more precincts, another method is needed for describing the precinct boundaries that split the municipality. <br />Although it is no longer required that precinct boundaries follow physical features, it may make describing precinct <br />boundaries easier. <br />If a municipality uses a single road, or other feature, as the boundary between precincts, it may be sufficient to define <br />the precincts in relation to that feature, as in “those portions of the city east of Main Street,” or “north of Clearwater <br />Creek.” However, when precinct boundaries follow multiple features, or there are numerous precincts in the <br />municipality, a metes and bounds description may be the best description. <br />A metes and bounds description is one that describes the boundaries of a precinct in such a way that a person could <br />walk the described boundary. An example that describes a portion of the Metropolitan Council’s 15th District is included <br />in M.S. 473.123 subd. 3c (15): <br /> “The fifteenth council district consists of that portion of Dakota county consisting of the cities <br />of Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, and South St. Paul, and that portion of the city of Eagan lying <br />north of a line described as follows: commencing at the intersection of Cliff Road with the <br />western boundary of the city of Eagan, easterly along Cliff Road to its intersection with Robert <br />Trail South and 110th Street West, then easterly along 110th Street West to the eastern <br />boundary of the city of Eagan.” <br />When a precinct plan is approved, any reference to a municipal boundary refers to that boundary on the day the plan is <br />approved. As municipal annexations occur, county commissioner districts and state legislative and congressional district <br />boundaries do not automatically change. Refer to 4.3.5.2 Annexations below for details on election district boundary <br />corrections. <br />In summary, the advantages of a metes and bounds description are that it is: <br />•More identifiable to people unfamiliar with the municipality, <br />•Better than using corporate limits for descriptions – as corporate limits tend to change over time, <br />•A reminder that when municipal annexations occur, a precinct boundary change needs to occur or a new <br />precinct needs to be created.