Minnesota State Wire

Minnesota lawmakers are considering legislation in the House of Representatives to address number of election-related subjects, including campaign finance reform, voter registration and election security and administration.

Minnesota House Assistant Minority Leader Jim Nash (R-Waconia) told the Minnesota State Wire he does not expect House Bill HF 9 to make it to a floor vote, and will likely lack sufficient support within the Democratic–Farmer–Labor (DFL) Party caucus. 

“There are some pretty astounding things in there that I have no idea, mechanically, how they would work, or fiscally, how they would be paid for,” Nash said.

One area Nash specified was the “Democracy Dollar” coupon program, which is meant to effectively replace the existing public subsidy program and the political contribution refund program, according to the bill summary. 

“There have been so many fiscal notes on this bill, I’m not even sure what the most up-to-date one is, but we’re talking about tens of millions of dollars in this bill to do the things that she’s proposing,” Nash said, referring to state Rep. Emma Greenman (D-Minneapolis), one of the bill’s sponsors.

Nash said that he is not sure if a companion bill exists in the state Senate, but that no bill containing the provisions in HF 9 would ever progress through the Senate.

“It’s going to do nothing, because it’s going nowhere,” he said.

Although proponents argue that the bill will ensure free, fair and open elections, Nash said that the problem is that the words are used to mean different things by different people from different political perspectives.

However, the legislation does seem to signal a continuation of a recent development in Minnesota politics wherein the tradition of politically neutral election laws has been eschewed, he said. Nash hopes that even if the bill makes it to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz, the governor will recognize the failure of the measure to hold to those historical standards.

Among the issues it addresses, HF 9 would codify the current list of documents approved by the Minnesota secretary of state for use in proving residency for Election Day registration, according to the bill summary. While photo identification will still be required for registering, nothing in the new law will change Minnesota's current situation as, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, one of 16 states that does not require voters to prove their identity at the polls.

However, a recent poll from Rasmussen Reports shows that the overwhelming majority of Americans – 75%, an 8% increase since 2018 – favor a voter identification requirement.

Amber McReynolds of the National Vote at Home Institute said that the best balance between security, transparency and accessibility is provided by correctly conducted signature matching, according to the New York Times. 

However, while HF 9 removes the requirement for a witness signature for absentee voting, it does not address changes to the current Minnesota system regarding the voter's signature.

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Minnesota is one of 16 states (and the District of Columbia) that do not require voter identification at the polls. The others are Maine, Oregon, California, Nevada, Wyoming, Vermont, Illinois, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, and Maryland.