Chair Robbins statement on election fraud hearing

ST. PAUL – The House Fraud Prevention and State Oversight Policy Committee on Tuesday held a hearing on election fraud in Minnesota. The hearing focused on a case from 2021-2022, in which two individuals pled guilty to federal charges of election fraud for filling out and submitting between 500-600 fraudulent voter registration forms. Questions from Committee members to Secretary of State Simon and his staff focused on how these fraudulent registrations were processed and caught, whether any of the fraudulent registrations remain in the system, and whether non-citizens are able to vote using drivers’ licenses. Chair Rep. Kristin Robbins, R-Maple Grove, issued the following statement after the panel met Tuesday to discuss election integrity, voter fraud, and potential misuse of state funds for partisan election activity in Minnesota:

“I am grateful that county elections staff caught and reported the fraudulent registrations and that our federal partners were able to secure guilty pleas in this conspiracy to commit election fraud. While the hearing answered some of our questions, including that the number of fraudulent registrations was between 500-600 and that those fake registrations were sent to 13 different counties, the Secretary of State did not provide the detail we need to be assured that all of these fraudulent registrations have been removed from our Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS). I sent a follow-up letter to Secretary Simon this morning requesting the exact number of fraudulent registrations, the specific counties they were sent to, and the number of fraudulent registrations that remain in the system marked as ‘challenged.’ In addition, it is important to know why, when this first came to light, all of the voter registrations submitted by the non-profit these two worked for were not flagged and segregated. Two of this foundation’s independent contractors were caught, but we should have had a review of all of the voter registrations submitted by this group. 

“It is essential we start catching election fraud upstream to prevent illegal voter registration forms or absentee ballot requests from being processed so illegal votes cannot be cast. Since Minnesota doesn’t have provisional balloting for ‘challenged’ or same-day registration, once a vote is cast, it cannot be withdrawn.

“Our role as the committee is to learn where breakdowns happen so how we can ensure a situation like this never happens again in Minnesota. We look forward to get more answers from the Secretary of State’s office so we can ensure that bulk voter registrations are reviewed before they are dispersed to the counties. Minnesotans deserve elections that ensures easy accessibility for all eligible voters but firm guardrails to protect against fraudsters.”