MVA exposes Walz, Simon allowing non-citizen voter registration
When Governor Tim Walz signed the Minnesota automatic voter registration bill into law in May 2023, most people assumed it would only allow eligible U.S. citizens to be automatically registered to vote.
However, in a September 3rd press release, the Minnesota Voters Alliance states:
They were wrong.
By law U.S. citizenship is an eligibility requirement to vote in Minnesota, according to Article VII Section 1 of the State Constitution. Citizenship is also required under federal law. The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution requires one to be a U.S. citizen in order to vote.
But now, with the new Minnesota drivers license application form, there are no questions, check boxes, or signed oaths regarding citizenship whatsoever, anywhere—only a paragraph, in the tiniest of print, at the very bottom of the form saying:
“If you provide documentation showing you are not a U.S. citizen at the time of application, no data will be sent to the Office of the Secretary of State.”
This craftily constructed sentence defines the only criteria under which a new applicant’s data must not be sent to the Secretary of State and registered to vote. There are no requirements on the form to show citizenship or even attest to it.
That means if a non-citizen, with an easily obtainable Social Security number, chooses not to provide documentation showing they are not a U.S. citizen at the time of application, they will be automatically registered to vote.
The language appears to have been purposefully written to absolve state officials from any responsibility to protect Minnesota voter rolls—and leaves the door wide open to voter fraud.
“Governor Walz and Secretary Simon are intent on destroying election safeguards in Minnesota,” said Andrew Cilek, Executive Director, Minnesota Voters Alliance (MVA). “Our elections mean nothing if we don’t trust the people governing them.”
The MVA has sent data requests to both the Commissioner of the Department of Public Safety and to the Secretary of State to address relevant statutory issues related to preventing non-citizens from registering to vote and voting. A response date is requested by September 24, 2024.