Statement from Senate State Government Finance and Policy and Elections Committee Chair Senator Mary Kiffmeyer on the Minnesota Court of Appeals decision to require Secretary of State Steve Simon to turn over public voting records for inspection: 

“Today’s ruling comes as no surprise to those of us familiar with upholding election integrity. Voting records must be available for inspection to the public if we are to trust that our elections are fair. The court and legislature have been clear this is public data and Secretary Simon is refusing to comply. It makes me wonder, what is he afraid the data will reveal about our voting integrity?

“Minnesota has notoriously lax voter rules that make fraud easy to conduct and difficult to prove. It’s even more difficult if the office is going to hide the data from public scrutiny and keep the public in the dark. The courts are correct to reprimand the Secretary of State for overstepping his bounds and putting a shroud of secrecy around voter data. Secretary Simon lost to Minnesota Voters Alliance in an appeal to prevent free speech at the Supreme Court of the United States last year, now he’s requested taxpayers pay for $1,000,000 of legal expenses in his budget. If Secretary Simon is going to continue this losing fight, the legislature will have no choice but to step in to prevent further appeals and legal bills.”

The legislature returns from the Easter and Passover Break next week and will be debating budget bills, including the funding for the Secretary of State’s office, on the Senate floor.