The Minnesota Senate advanced the omnibus state government, elections, veterans, and military affairs bill (H.F.1952) Monday on a vote of 38-28. The bill makes cuts to the operating budgets of the Department of Revenue, Minnesota Department of Management and Budget, Minnesota IT Services, and the Department of Administration.
The bill includes a number of controversial policy provisions targeting Minnesota’s elections including replacing same-day registration with provisional balloting, restricting early voting locations, and requiring challenged voter records and election judge political party information to be made public.
Following passage of the bill, ranking DFL-lead on the State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee Senator Jim Carlson (DFL-Eagan) released the following statement:
“Minnesota consistently leads the nation in voter turnout due to our trusted and well-tested electoral systems. Today’s bill upends our system of elections and voting by introducing a second tier of ballots, which historically has left 30% of these ballots uncounted, and imposing unnecessary burdens on voters. Instead of restricting and suppressing the right to vote, we should be expanding access to the ballot, empowering Minnesotans to participate in the political process, and building on the success of our strong electoral system. Reluctantly I voted yes to be placed on the upcoming conference committee, and I will work with my colleagues in the House to fight these efforts to suppress and restrict Minnesotans freedom to vote.”
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