The U.S. Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon Thursday for declining to provide a copy of Minnesota’s statewide voter registration list.
“Clean voter rolls are the foundation of free and fair elections,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi. “Every state has a responsibility to ensure that voter registration records are accurate, accessible, and secure — states that don’t fulfill that obligation will see this Department of Justice in court.”
In June, the DOJ demanded answers on how Minnesota handles voter registration, voter‑roll maintenance, security protocols, and steps taken to identify and remove noncitizens. The letter from the DOJ’s voting section also asked for Minnesota’s current statewide voter registration list, including both active and inactive voters.
Justin Erickson, general counsel in Simon’s office, responded with an eight-page letter of his own. His letter addressed Minnesota’s compliance with the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the state’s “longstanding safeguards that meet or exceed the standards of that act.”
It then concluded by rejecting the DOJ’s request for a copy of the voter registration list, saying it “contains sensitive personal identifying information on several million individuals.”
“The OSS takes seriously its obligations under state and federal law, including HAVA, to protect that data from unauthorized use,” Erickson wrote, according to a copy of the letter published by KSTP.
“As a result, it is the long-standing practice of the OSS not to disclose any information contained on its statewide voter registration list unless expressly required by law.”
Erickson said Simon’s office believes in “accountability and scrutiny,” and is thus cooperating with an Office of the Legislative Auditor review.
“The Department of Justice did not, however, identify any legal basis in its June 25 letter that would entitle it to Minnesota’s voter registration list. Nor did it explain how this information would be used, stored, and secured,” Erickson continued.
Republican state legislators later urged Simon to reconsider his decision, especially in light of “the recent federal convictions of individuals who sought to register illegal and fake voters in Minnesota.”
Now, the DOJ is arguing that the U.S. attorney general is charged by Congress with enforcing HAVA and the National Voter Registration Act, which require states to have “proper and effective voter registration and voter list maintenance programs.”
Additionally, the lawsuit argues that the Civil Rights Act of 1960 allows the attorney general to demand the production, inspection, and analysis of statewide voter registration lists.
Lawsuits were also filed against California, Michigan, New York, New Hampshire, and Pennsylvania.
“States are required to safeguard American elections by complying with our federal elections laws,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. “Clean voter rolls protect American citizens from voting fraud and abuse, and restore their confidence that their states’ elections are conducted properly, with integrity, and in compliance with the law.”
Anthony Gockowski
Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.
