Minnesota
House of
Representatives
July 5, 2017
The Honorable Steve Simon
Minnesota Secretary of State
174 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd,
Saint Paul, Minnesota 55155
Dear Secretary Simon:
As members of the Legislature, we applaud your decision to refuse to provide sensitive private data on
Minnesota’s 3.6 million registered voters to the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity
(Commission). We strongly encourage you to continue to withhold the requested data pursuant to
Minnesota Statutes governing the use of data on Minnesota citizens.
‘We Question the Commission’s Motives
In our opinion, the Commission’s request for private data on Minnesota voters is a thinly-veiled attempt to
raise unwarranted questions about the eligibility of Minnesota citizens to exercise their Constitutional right
to vote. Minnesota Statutes provide numerous safeguards to ensure that individuals who are not eligible to
vote are prevented from doing so. Those individuals who intentionally cast an ineligible vote are subject to
felony prosecution to the full extent of the law. Minnesota does not need a federal Commission with a pre-
determined bias looking over our shoulder for its own political purposes.
Providing the requested data to the Commission may subject thousands of Minnesota citizens to
unnecessary harassment, which in turn may intimidate them from continuing to participate in our elections.
This is not a new tactic, For the past decade, many individuals have attempted to undermine the integrity
of Minnesota’s electoral processes. Fortunately, a strong majority of Minnesota citizens have rejected
those efforts and stood by public officials who have fought to enfranchise all eligible voters in Minnesota.
In 2012, over 52 percent of individuals voting on a proposed Constitutional Amendment rejected an
attempt to require all voters to provide a photo identification at the polling place.
Minnesota Statutes Preclude the Release of Voter Data
‘The Commission’s request for Minnesota data goes well beyond the data that is available to registered
voters in Minnesota. To receive limited voter data, a Minnesota registered voter must state in writing that
the information will not be used for purposes unrelated to elections, political activities, or law
enforcement. Minnesota Statutes (2016) §201.091, Subd. 9, states: “A list provided for public inspection or
purchase, or in response to a Jaw enforcement inquiry, must not include a voter's date of birth or any partofa voter's Social Security number, driver's license number, identification card number, military
identification card number, or passport number.”
While Minnesota law does allow limited voter data to be made available to Minnesota's registered voters,
the Commission's Vice-Chair (Kris W. Kobach) is not a registered voter in our state. Furthermore, the
Commission’s purported use of the data extends well beyond Minnesota's “elections and political
activities,” and the Commission has no law enforcement jurisdiction within the state that would permit it to
request the data.
Minnesota is already a member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a multi-state
effort “to improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all
eligible citizens.” Prior to joining ERIC, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office sought, and received,
statutory authority to share voter data with other states that are committed to respecting the privacy of the
data, Minnesota Statutes (2016) §201.13, Subd, 3, recognizes the sensitivity of the data being shared with
ERIC and requites the Secretary to “determine that the data security protocols are sufficient to safeguard
the information or data shared.” The statutory safeguards for the data shared with ERIC are in sharp
contrast to the Commission’s affirmation that “any documents that are submitted to the full Commission
will also be made available to the public.”
In closing, we would like to thank you for joining with many other states in your refusal to provide
sensitive voter data to the Commission. If the Commission persists in its attempts to obtain the voter data,
‘we would strongly advise that it seek Minnesota statutory authority allowing you to share the sensitive data
and require the Commission to respect the privacy of that data.
Our best regards.
Sincerely,
Mike Freiberg Fue Lee
State Representative State Representative
Rick Hansen
State Representative