House committee approves amended elections package; proposed anti‑lottery amendment fails on tie

The Minnesota House Elections Committee voted to send House File 1378, as amended, to the General Register after adopting a manager amendment and several technical fixes, committee chairs announced at the close of the hearing.

The measure — described to the committee as a vehicle bill combining multiple election‑administration provisions — was approved after the committee adopted the DE5 manager amendment, which the author said incorporated provisions from several other House files including measures on temporary polling location publication, absentee voting, polling‑place closure notices, and special‑election filing periods.

The DE5 amendment and two technical amendments (A6 and A8) were adopted in committee. Witnesses and state officials who testified praised many of the bill’s changes but urged modifications to implementation timelines and system requirements.

Michael Stahlberger, director of property and environmental resources for Blue Earth County, testifying on behalf of the Minnesota Association of County Officers, said the bill removes the permanent absentee‑ballot request box from the Election Day registration form and adds an absentee‑application deadline that the association supports. “This will help…