Overview
- Steve Simon, testifying Thursday before the House Administration Committee, faced questions about a Fillmore County case where a man was charged after allegedly voting in 2024 without U.S. citizenship.
- Simon said Minnesota is exempt from the National Voter Registration Act and explained that automatic voter registration only moves forward ID applicants who provide citizenship proof such as a passport, a birth certificate, or naturalization papers.
- He told lawmakers the federal SAVE database is not ready for Minnesota and said using it would require a change in state law.
- Simon called the ERIC data-sharing program for voter rolls invaluable, while Kansas Secretary Scott Schwabe said Kansas skips ERIC because it is too costly.
- Members also pressed him on Minnesota’s same-day “vouching” rule, which lets one registered voter swear to the address of up to eight people in the same precinct without proving age or citizenship, along with questions on mail voting, signature checks, and same-day registration.