Minnesota Statutes Elections (Ch. 200-212) § 201.016. Residence requirements for voting; violations; penalty

Subd. 1a. Violations; penalty. (a) The county auditor shall mail a notice to any voter who the county auditor can determine has: (1) provided the address at which the voter maintains residence, but was allowed to vote in a precinct other than the precinct in which the voter maintains residence; and (2) not voted in the wrong precinct previously. The notice must be in the form provided by the secretary of state.

(b) The county auditor shall mail a violation notice to any voter who otherwise voted in a precinct in which the voter did not maintain residence on election day. The county auditor shall also change the status of the voter in the statewide registration system to “challenged” and the voter shall be required to provide proof of residence to either the county auditor or to the election judges in the voter's precinct before voting in the next election. Any of the forms authorized by section 201.061 for registration at the polling place may be used for this purpose.

(c) A voter who votes in a precinct other than the precinct in which the voter maintains residence after receiving an initial violation notice as provided in this subdivision is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.

(d) A voter who votes in a precinct other than the precinct in which the voter maintains residence after having been found to have committed a petty misdemeanor under paragraph (b) is guilty of a misdemeanor.

(e) Reliance by the voter on inaccurate information regarding the location of the voter's polling place provided by the state, county, or municipality is an affirmative defense to a prosecution under this subdivision.