Despite Secretary Simon’s Claims of Accurate Voter Data, Thousands of Dubious Voters Remain on Hennepin County Voter Rolls
ST. PAUL – Despite Minnesota Secretary of State (SOS) Steve Simon’s recent claim of honest and accurate elections, a recent Minnesota House investigation has cast doubt on what his office is doing to clean up Minnesota’s voter rolls.
State Representative Pam Altendorf (R-Red Wing), who serves as vice-chair of the Minnesota House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee, said she is troubled by the SOS reluctance to ensure the integrity of our state’s election system.
“According to data we have reviewed from Hennepin County, we know for a fact that there are thousands of voter records with discrepancies, omissions, or questions of eligibility,” Altendorf said. “It raises questions about the quality and integrity of our voter data across our state.”
Secretary Simon recently denied a U.S. Department of Justice request to share the state’s voter roll data with the federal government. However, as an elected Minnesota public official, Rep. Altendorf recently made a formal request for voter data information from four Minnesota counties.
2 days after her request, the Secretary of State’s Office contacted elections’ offices in all 87 Minnesota counties, telling them a public official had made a data request for master lists. The SOS then told county officials: “Provide only the data listed for the master list under state law: name, residence address, and full date of birth for all registered voters. You should not provide any other data in response to a request for the master list, including email address, voter registration status, or data on inactive voters.” (See photos below)
Hennepin County shared its voter master list in full, and Rep. Altendorf said that data contained numerous problematic findings.
Among the findings in Hennepin County’s voter roll data:
- Several thousand voters are flagged with ‘challenged status’ because of questions about their eligibility to vote
- Minneapolis precincts with very high numbers of ‘challenged voters.’ In one precinct, over one in five voters has been flagged with questions about their eligibility to vote
- Voters that have implausible birthdates
- Missing required information like address or birthdays
- Voters appearing as either duplicates or who may have registered and voted more than once
Rep. Altendorf said the troubling findings are a red flag for Minnesota’s election system and believes the federal government’s help may be needed to clean up the state’s voter rolls.
“When Secretary Simon is more concerned about what I might find on the voter rolls rather than ensuring the integrity of our state’s elections system, that is a major problem,” Altendorf said. “The attempt to control what voter data counties should release is troubling. If he truly believed the state’s voter rolls are spotless, would he not welcome the scrutiny? What is he trying to hide?”
“This is just one county out of 87, but it is the one with roughly 20% of the state’s population,” Altendorf continued. “It’s clear we need more transparency because the Hennepin County data proves the voter rolls are not clean. All 87 counties need a thorough inspection, and the federal government has offered to help. If the SOS office can’t or won’t do it, then it should accept the federal assistance.”