Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon denied a U.S. Department of Justice request to share the state’s voter roll data with the federal government. Other states cooperated and utilized tools to assure duplicate or dead voters were removed. That’s good governance.
Despite what you hear, it is not a fracture of trust to share private information - such as name, address and birthdates – with the federal government, when the federal government already has this information. Further, the Secretary of State’s (SOS) Office has no problem sharing your private data with a non-governmental agency called Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) on a monthly basis – yet where is the outrage?
Democrats have plenty of canned replies, but these arguments have more holes than Swiss cheese. Ask yourself: why is Minnesota not verifying its voter rolls are clean?
As an elected Minnesota public official serving as the vice-chair of the Elections Committee, I recently made a formal request for voter data information from four Minnesota counties.
Two days after my request, the SOS contacted elections’ offices in all 87 Minnesota counties, telling them a public official had made a data request for master voter lists. The SOS gave a directive, redefining the “master list” to contain less information than the list that is publicly available and instructing county officials not to provide specific data, like “voter status.”
Of the four counties, three followed the SOS directive. Hennepin County shared its voter master list in full, and it contained numerous problematic findings:
- 2,992 voters with missing data, most missing part of a name, address or birthdate – which by state and federal laws should trigger a stop
- 503 active voters aged 100 or older
- 7,779 “challenged” voters because of questions about their eligibility to vote
- One precinct with 21.6% - or 1 out of every 5 voters - as “challenged”
- Voters in large numbers with the same address
- Voters with the same name and address with two voter identifications
This isn’t rampant speculation. These are proven facts, compiled using data kept on file and sent to me directly from the source: Hennepin County. We now know that there are thousands of voter records with discrepancies, omissions, or questions of eligibility in the state’s largest county.
When Secretary Simon is more concerned about what I might find on the voter rolls rather than ensuring the integrity of our state’s elections system, that’s a major problem. The attempt to control what voter data counties should release is troubling and raises a huge red flag. If he truly believed the state’s voter rolls were spotless, would he not welcome the scrutiny?
This is just one county out of 87, but the one with roughly 20% of the state’s population. It’s clear we need more transparency because the Hennepin County data proves the voter rolls aren’t clean. Many of us remember a U.S. Senate race that was decided by less than 300 votes. Having thousands of challenged voters lurking on Hennepin County’s voter rolls before this November’s election raises serious questions about the quality and integrity of our voter data, not only there but across our state.
Based on these facts, it’s clear the voter rolls in all 87 counties need a thorough inspection. If the SOS office is unable or unwilling to assure our voter rolls are clean, then we must accept federal assistance. Insisting the voter rolls are clean when the facts prove otherwise makes the average Minnesotan question whether our election system is truly fair and honest, and that is an unacceptable outcome.
Election integrity should not be a partisan issue. Bringing full transparency to our voter rolls is of highest importance to me. One legal, adult Minnesota citizen per vote – anything less is disenfranchising our most important American duty. Verify the vote!