House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and his congressional colleagues are demanding answers from the Minnesota Secretary of State and the Minnesota Department of Public Safety to ensure ineligible, noncitizens are not automatically registered to vote in Minnesota.
Last year, Democrats in Minnesota passed a new law which automatically registers people to vote when they apply for, or update, their driver’s license. That same year, Democrats also passed a law which allows illegal immigrants to obtain driver’s licenses. As such, many have expressed concerns that ineligible people could become registered to vote in Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety (DPS), the agency that works in tandem with the Secretary of State to automatically register voters, confirmed last month that roughly 1,000 automatic voter registration applicant files were inactivated after being flagged for lacking documentation which prove they are eligible to vote.
Additionally, Breitbart recently reported that a legal resident, noncitizen in Minnesota said they received a primary ballot in the mail earlier this year despite the fact that they never registered to vote or requested the ballot.
“Only American citizens should be voting in American elections,” said Congressman Emmer in a statement to Alpha News. “This isn’t controversial—it’s common sense. We will continue to demand answers from the Walz Administration until we are sure that only eligible citizens are casting ballots in our elections.”
As such, Majority Whip Emmer and Congressman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., the chairman of the Committee on House Administration, sent a letter Tuesday demanding answers from both DPS and the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS). Emmer and Steil were joined by three of Emmer’s Minnesota congressional colleagues: Republican Reps. Pete Stauber, Michelle Fischbach, and Brad Finstad.
“Minnesota began [automatic voter registration] in April 2024 and now registers voters when they renew a state-issued identification, such as a driver’s license, which is now available for noncitizens,” wrote the group. “The combination of [automatic voter registration] and Driver’s License for All could be the fatal combination that led to the report of this and other noncitizens receiving a primary ballot in the mail.”
Referencing the roughly 1,000 records that were inactivated in Minnesota, the letter said “any instance of ineligible voters is a disservice to Minnesotans and must be investigated fully. Additionally, this is just one source that points to the indication that noncitizens have access to federal elections, in violation of federal law.”
In turn, DPS Commissioner Bob Jacobson and Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon were asked a series of questions. Among those questions, the lawmakers sought information on investigations into the inactivated people, whether those inactivated people had voted in previous elections, and what steps are being taken by the agencies to ensure ineligible voters are not registered to vote.
“When Governor Walz gave driver’s licenses to illegals combined with automatic voter registration, it created an alarming, higher than ever potential for fraud and voting by noncitizens,” said Congressman Stauber. “Secretary Simon and Commissioner Jacobson must act to protect the integrity of our elections from the Governor’s poor decisions. I am grateful to join Chairman Steil and Minnesota Republicans in providing oversight and look forward to receiving assurances that only every legal vote will count in the upcoming election.”
“I have spent significant time this Congress taking steps to ensure that noncitizens are not voting in federal elections and that States have the tools to clean their voter rolls,” Congressman Steil added. “As we rapidly approach Election Day, Americans deserve confidence that Minnesota has the right procedures in place to prevent noncitizen voting. This troubling circumstance does not inspire that confidence.”
The Secretary of State’s Office has previously insisted that adequate safeguards are in place to ensure that noncitizens do not vote in U.S. elections.
“To be clear—non-citizens are not eligible to vote in Minnesota. The Voter Registration Application requires applicants to certify they are U.S. Citizens,” a spokesperson previously told Alpha News. “Additionally, the State Voter Registration System has several safeguards to check citizenship status through data provided by other state and federal agencies. It is a felony to register to vote or vote while ineligible. If convicted of a felony, non-citizens are at risk of deportation.”
In a September press release, the Secretary of State’s Office discussed the inactivated records and said it has worked with DPS “to add additional quality assurance to the process to catch and correct the instances of human error.”
Luke Sprinkel
Luke Sprinkel previously worked as a Legislative Assistant at the Minnesota House of Representatives. He grew up as a Missionary Kid (MK) living in England, Thailand, Tanzania, and the Middle East. Luke graduated from Regent University in 2018.
