Minnesota Voters Alliance plans to file suit to get access to voter registration data

Voters Alliance looking for possible signs of fraud.

August 12, 2017 at 1:31AM
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon toured the Ramsey County elections office with elections manager Joe Mansky. This is the last day of early voting. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Monday, November 7, 2016 Spending part of the day before election day with the guy who has to ensure it all runs properly: Secretary of State Steve Simon. We'll see what it looks like behind the scenes as elections officials prepare for the end of an election that could have record turnout in Minnesota.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, right, toured the Ramsey County elections office with elections manager Joe Mansky in 2016. (Colleen Kelly — Star Tribune/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

While the Trump administration battles Minnesota for its voter data, a local conservative group is filing suit, demanding its own chance to scrutinize the voter rolls.

The Minnesota Voters Alliance announced plans Friday to sue Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who denied the group's request for voter registration data. Among other things, the group wanted to examine the names, addresses, voting history and every registered voter's current status as well as any challenge to that status, all in search of fraudulent votes that may have been cast.

President Donald Trump has claimed, without any apparent grounds, that "millions" of fraudulent votes were cast in the 2016 election, costing him the popular vote. The administration launched a presidential Commission on Election Integrity to compile and comb through the voter data of all 50 states in search of improprieties.

The federal request ran into a legal thresher of lawsuits and balky secretaries of state. Fourteen states, including Minnesota, denied the request outright — for reasons ranging from violations of state privacy laws to concerns that compiling all that information in one place created a tempting target for hackers.

But Dan McGrath, communications director for the Minnesota Voters Alliance, said his group was simply seeking public, nonsensitive data to ensure that Minnesota's elections did not include any votes cast by felons or noncitizens.

"Minnesota voters have the right to independently verify that elections are conducted according to the laws and that no irregularities occurred," McGrath said. "Transparency is a key election principle in an open, democratic society."

The group said it would file suit in Ramsey County District Court, arguing that the secretary of state's office wrongfully denied its request under Minnesota's data practices laws.

While most of the data requested are publicly available on request, the group acknowledged that it was also seeking less conventional data about voter eligibility and Minnesotans who have not recently cast a vote. Several states are mulling "use it or lose it" laws that would purge infrequent voters from the rolls.

Critics, meanwhile, say these groups are searching for solutions to a nonexistent problem. One 2014 study found that out of 1 billion votes cast between 2000 and 2014, there were only 31 documented incidents of voter fraud.

Jennifer Brooks • 202-662-7452

Secretary of State Steve Simon watched as Muhammad Abdurrahman approached with his ballot. Abdurrahman voted for Sen. Bernie Sanders, making him a so-called “faithless elector.” He was replaced by an alternate, as required by law, who voted for Clinton. ] GLEN STUBBE * gstubbe@startribune.com Monday, December 19, 2016 Minnesota's Electoral College Assembly convenes where the state's 10 electors will cast their votes for president and vice president. Event starts at 12 noon, doors o
Secretary of State Steve Simon has refused to turn over voter data to both a federal panel and a state group. (The Minnesota Star Tribune)
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Jennifer Brooks

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Jennifer Brooks is a local columnist for the Minnesota Star Tribune. She travels across Minnesota, writing thoughtful and surprising stories about residents and issues.

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