Penalties related to the solicitation, collection, acceptance, or delivery of certain absentee ballots or absentee ballot applications modified.
HF368 amends Minnesota’s election law governing absentee voting by expanding and clarifying prohibited conduct related to absentee ballots and absentee ballot applications. The bill keeps existing bans on false statements, improper assistance, ballot marking disclosure, and other election-related misconduct, and it adds explicit language prohibiting an individual from soliciting, collecting, accepting, or delivering absentee ballots as a voter’s agent beyond the number allowed by law, including for delivery to an absentee ballot drop box.
The bill also creates new restrictions on how people may be paid for handling absentee ballots or absentee ballot applications. It prohibits compensation structures that pay based on the number of applications or ballots solicited, collected, accepted, or delivered, and it bars automatic pay reductions or bonuses tied to meeting a minimum or specific number of ballots or applications. A violation of these compensation rules is a petty misdemeanor, while violating the broader section remains a felony. The bill takes effect the day after final enactment.
HF368 would amend Minnesota Statutes section 203B.03, which governs prohibitions and penalties in the absentee voting process. It would strengthen enforcement against ballot harvesting-style activity by expressly limiting agents from handling more absentee ballots than permitted and by covering delivery to drop boxes. It would also regulate paid ballot-collection practices by banning piece-rate or quota-based compensation for soliciting, collecting, accepting, or delivering absentee ballots or applications, while preserving felony penalties for broader violations of the section and creating a petty misdemeanor for compensation-rule violations.
Based on the bill text and available context, the measure appears to be framed as an election-integrity bill, with a focus on preventing improper ballot collection and compensation incentives. There are no committee transcripts or recorded votes provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, amendments, or bipartisan support/opposition in the materials supplied. The authorship and the nature of the changes suggest concern about absentee-ballot handling practices and a preference for tighter controls.
The likely points of contention are the new limits on who may collect or deliver absentee ballots and the ban on performance-based compensation. Supporters would view these provisions as safeguards against undue influence, ballot harvesting, and pay incentives that could encourage aggressive collection practices. Opponents may argue that the bill could burden legitimate voter outreach, community assistance, and paid election-related work, especially for organizations that help voters return absentee ballots or applications. The bill text does not show any recorded objections, but these are the main policy tensions implied by the proposal.