EAdIElection Administration Index
How professionally and independently is election administration codified?
Dimensions
Accountability
50.0% · 1/2| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COI.1Conflict-of-interest disclosureAre commissioners and senior election staff required by statute to disclose financial interests (vendor relationships, party positions, candidate connections) publicly? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| COI.2Judicial review of administrative decisionsIs the right to seek judicial review of election-authority decisions codified, with standing, timeline, and venue defined? | 1/1100.0% | § 204D.22 codifies the writ of election for filling vacancies (judicial-process mechanism). § 211C.07 codifies the Governor's writ of election for recalls. § 204D.17 codifies special-election procedures for legislative vacancies. § 209 series codifies judicial contest review. Judicial-review framework codified. | § view source 2026-05-20 |
Commission
40.0% · 2/5| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| COMM.1Statutory grounding of commissionIs the election commission's existence and core mandate set in the constitution (rather than statute alone, regulation, or executive order)? | 1/250.0% | § 204B.20 codifies the precinct election board (election judges + head election judge with assigned duties). § 204B.23 codifies vacancy-filling among election judges. § 204C.31 (not in FTS top-5) codifies county canvassing boards. § 208.05 codifies the State Canvassing Board. § 203B.121 codifies ballot boards. Multi-tier commission structure codified, though distributed across chapters. | § view source 2026-05-20 |
| COMM.2Multi-branch appointmentAre commission members appointed by multiple branches (legislature, judiciary, executive) such that no single branch unilaterally controls composition? | 0/10.0% | § 208.05 codifies the State Canvassing Board which canvasses presidential-elector returns. Minnesota's State Canvassing Board (per § 204C.33) comprises the Secretary of State and judges/justices appointed by the chief justice — a quasi-judicial composition. The FTS-surfaced § 208.05 references the board's function; the multi-branch composition (SoS + judiciary) is codified in § 204C.33. | § view source 2026-05-20 |
| COMM.3Term protectionAre commissioner terms defined in statute with fixed length, staggered cycles, and statutory grounds for removal? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| COMM.4Political-balance requirementIs the commission's composition required by statute to be politically balanced (party-balanced, supermajority-confirmation, or independent appointment by judiciary)? | 1/1100.0% | § 203B.23 codifies the absentee ballot board with bipartisan election-judge composition. § 204C.32 codifies the canvass of state primaries. § 204B.04 codifies candidacy prohibitions (anti-conflict). § 204C.31 codifies that county canvassing boards exclude candidates. § 203B.121 codifies bipartisan ballot boards (judges from different major parties). Political-balance requirement codified. | § view source 2026-05-20 |
Funding
50.0% · 2/4| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| FUND.1Independent funding lineIs the election authority's budget a separate statutory line item (not subject to mid-cycle reallocation by the executive branch alone)? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| FUND.2Multi-year funding cycleAre election infrastructure budgets set on a multi-year cycle (avoiding annual political renegotiation of election-administration money)? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| FUND.3Foreign funding prohibitionIs foreign-source funding of the election authority (and election administration vendors, where applicable) prohibited by statute? | 2/2100.0% | § 211B.15 codifies corporate political-contribution restrictions including an explicit 'foreign-influenced corporation' category — corporations with specified foreign-ownership thresholds are barred from political contributions/expenditures. Comprehensive foreign-funding prohibition codified (Minnesota's 2023 foreign-influence-in-elections reform). “"Foreign-influenced corporation" means a corporation as defined in paragraph (c), clause (1) or (3), for which at least one of the following conditions is met:” | § view source 2026-05-20 |
Staff Training
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| STAFF.1Career professional staffIs the election authority's career staff (professional employees, not political appointees) protected by civil-service or analogous merit-based statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| STAFF.2Mandatory trainingIs training for election officials and poll workers required by statute, with content and frequency defined? | 1/1100.0% | § 204B.25 codifies mandatory training: 'each county auditor shall provide training for all election judges' consistent with SoS-established training programs, plus emergency training for vacancy-fill judges. § 203B.121 codifies that each ballot-board member 'must be provided adequate training on the processing and counting of absentee ballots.' § 203B.23 codifies absentee-board training. Comprehensive mandatory-training framework codified. “Each county auditor shall provide training for all election judges who are appointed to serve at any election to be held in the county.” | § view source 2026-05-20 |
| STAFF.3Whistleblower protectionAre election-related whistleblower protections (for staff reporting irregularities) codified in statute? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
Vendor Oversight
33.3% · 1/3| Datapoint | Score | Rationale & evidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| CERT.1Certification process codifiedIs the voting-equipment certification process (criteria, evaluators, timeline, public-comment period) codified in statute or regulation? | 1/1100.0% | § 206.57 codifies examination of new voting systems by the Secretary of State (compliance, accuracy, durability). § 206.83 codifies pre-election testing. § 206.805 codifies state voting-system contracts with certification requirements. § 206.81 codifies experimental-use authorization. § 206.82 codifies program preparation. Comprehensive certification framework codified. | § view source 2026-05-20 |
| CERT.2Recertification triggersAre recertification triggers (after material updates, after defects discovered, on a fixed schedule) codified? | 0/10.0% | No candidate sections returned by FTS. | no FTS match 2026-05-20 |
| CERT.3Decertification grounds & procedureAre the grounds for revoking certification, and the procedure for doing so, defined in statute? | 0/10.0% | § 209.07 codifies that a court may invalidate and revoke an election certificate following a contest. § 204C.10 codifies voter-eligibility attestation. Voting-system decertification specifically is handled via § 206.57 (re-examination after significant changes) rather than a distinct decertification clause. | § view source 2026-05-20 |