A group of Republican legislators are urging Secretary of State Steve Simon to cooperate with a federal Department of Justice request for access to Minnesota’s voter registration list.
On Tuesday, Rep. Duane Quam, R-Byron, who co-chairs the Minnesota House Elections Committee, wrote to Simon asking him to “reconsider” his decision not to comply with the DOJ’s request — especially in light of “the recent federal convictions of individuals who sought to register illegal and fake voters in Minnesota.”
“It is extremely puzzling and disappointing that as the chief elections official in this state and a constitutional officer, you would not want to fully cooperate with the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice to protect the voting rights of the citizens of Minnesota,” Quam wrote in the July 28 letter. Other Republican legislators who signed the letter include: Joe McDonald, Ben Davis, Pam Altendorf, Jimmy Gordon and Drew Roach. None of the six Democrats on the committee signed onto the letter.
The DOJ sent the Minnesota secretary of state a letter in June requesting answers to a slew of questions regarding how the state handles voter registration, voter‑roll maintenance, security protocols, and any steps it takes to identify and remove noncitizens.
That letter, sent by attorneys in the DOJ’s civil rights division, also requested Simon’s office release the state’s complete voter registration list—active and inactive—along with detailed information about Help America Vote Act compliance.
On Friday, Simon’s office responded to the DOJ and officially declined to provide it with a copy of Minnesota’s statewide voter registration list.
The attorney who authored the eight-page letter to the DOJ said Simon’s office would not provide the voter registration list because it “contains sensitive personal identifying information on several million individuals.”
Quam criticized that reasoning in his letter to Simon.
The secretary of state denied “the request from the Department of Justice for Minnesota’s statewide voter registration list, in part because it contained personal identifying information,” Quam wrote. “This private information was not something that the Civil Rights Division requested. The statewide registered voter list is available to purchase by the public on your own website for $46, with personally identifying information removed.”
Quam concluded the letter by expressing appreciation for Simon’s work with Republican members of the House elections committee “as we have sought to resolve deficiencies and confusion in Minnesota’s voting laws that have led to lawsuits and the disenfranchisement of citizens.”
“We hope you will reconsider your stance to the request from our federal partners as they seek to ensure the constitutional rights of citizens are protected.”
Hank Long
Hank Long is a journalism and communications professional whose writing career includes coverage of the Minnesota legislature, city and county governments and the commercial real estate industry. Hank received his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota, where he studied journalism, and his law degree at the University of St. Thomas. The Minnesota native lives in the Twin Cities with his wife and four children. His dream is to be around when the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
