Minnesota Election Security Gaps Exposed in New Report

MINNEAPOLIS, MN—Today, the Minnesota Office of the Legislative Auditor (OLA) released a new report on the state of Minnesota voter registration. The report details serious loopholes in state election policies which leave Minnesota elections vulnerable to fraud. OLA’s analysis asserts that the current Office of the Secretary of State’s (OSS) reporting structure “may meet statutory requirements, but it does not present information in a useful way.” Not only are these voter registration reports difficult to interpret, OLA also highlights that “[c]ounty election staff do not generally inform OSS when they refer suspected. Violations of voter registration law to county attorneys, as required by law.”

Minnesota is a case study on how poor election security policies leave a gaping vulnerability for potential election fraud and result in low voter confidence. Minnesota allows driver’s licenses to be issued to noncitizens and illegal immigrants, which also triggers automatic enrollment to vote in Minnesota. Voter eligibility is not verified before a licensed driver is registered to vote, and voter identification is not required to vote in person. It is impossible to verify who is actually showing up to Minnesota voting booths, and if they are truly eligible to vote or not.

The America First Policy Institute’s Minnesota state chapter Executive Director, Zachary Freimark, shared his thoughts on this new report:

“If even the auditors of our election processes think the current reporting structure is difficult to interpret, how are Minnesota voters supposed to trust the integrity of our elections?” Freimark asked. “Even more alarming, OLA found clear violations of voter registration law by county election staff. It’s clear to me that we need to implement new policies to protect our elections—any fraudulent ballot cast is a Minnesotan’s voice that is silenced.”

To read more about AFPI Minnesota’s work, click here.