Earlier this month, the Upper Midwest Law Center (UMLC) and the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) won a legal victory over Ramsey County regarding duplicate voter registrations on Ramsey County voting rolls.
“Ramsey County’s removal of duplicate voter registrations, and its agreement to provide information important to ensuring good practices going forward, is a win for election integrity in Minnesota,” said James Dickey, senior counsel at UMLC. “The Upper Midwest Law Center is proud to stand alongside the Public Interest Legal Foundation in ensuring accurate voter rolls, and we appreciate Ramsey County’s commitment to getting its voter rolls right.”
The Public Interest Legal Foundation is a Virginia-based non-profit law firm that is “dedicated to election integrity.” Among their efforts, PILF files lawsuits in states all across the country to “to aid the cause of election integrity and fight against lawlessness in American elections.”
In January of 2023, PILF filed a complaint against Ramsey County after discovering that Ramsey County’s voter registration list contained 62 apparent duplicate voters who “were registered more than once in the county.” The complaint, filed in Ramsey County District Court, said the county did admit “that 61 of the apparent duplicates were actual duplicates.”
Minnesota law and the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) require that duplicate voter registrations be eliminated, according to the complaint.
Represented by the Upper Midwest Law Center, PILF’s complaint claimed that Ramsey County’s monthly searches of the voter rolls were ineffective at identifying duplicate registrations. The complaint stated, “many of these duplicates were on the voter rolls for years.”
In seeking resolution, PILF requested that Ramsey County determine why county searches of voter rolls did not identify the duplicate registrations. Additionally, the complaint requested that the county make changes to ensure their voter rolls are in compliance with the law.
The 61 duplicate voter registrations were removed from the Ramsey County voter rolls in 2023.
On Jan. 5, 2024, PILF signed a settlement agreement with Ramsey County which resolved the complaint. That agreement requires the county to give PILF information regarding Ramsey County procedures for searching the voter rolls, records which identify the reasons why the previous duplicates were not resolved, and other relevant documents.
“Duplicate voter registrations invite errors and are an invitation for one person to cast multiple ballots,” PILF stated in a press release. “In total, six Minnesota counties have removed 501 duplicate voter registrations due to the efforts and litigation of the Public Interest Legal Foundation.”
Further, PILF President J. Christian Adams said, “The most basic election integrity starts at the county level with clean and accurate voter rolls. These victories in Minnesota have set the stage for a more secure election in 2024”
PILF’s partner in this effort, the Upper Midwest Law Center, is also a public interest law firm. The UMLC‘s stated goal, “is to pursue pro-freedom litigation safeguarding against government overreach, left-wing special interest agendas, constitutional violations, and public union corruption.
Referring to the UMLC, Dickey added, “We will continue in our mission to make Minnesota elections fair and trustworthy.”
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.
