Minnesota

dflprincess

(28,475 posts) Fri May 5, 2023, 08:07 PM May 2023

5 major changes in Minnesota's new election law (hint: designed to make it easier to vote)

I love this state!

https://www.startribune.com/five-major-changes-to-voting-in-minnesotas-historic-new-election-law-disinformation/600272746/

Minnesota will soon join more than 20 states that automatically sign up eligible residents to vote, the largest voter expansion in the state since it adopted same-day registration five decades ago.

The policy, signed into law Friday by Gov. Tim Walz, could mean hundreds of thousands of more voters on the rolls in Minnesota. It's part of an expansive voting package that includes measures Democrats have been pushing for years but couldn't pass under divided government.

"The fact that Minnesota has some of the highest voter turnout in America year after year after year is not an accident. It's not a coincidence. It's not something in the water," said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, who called the bill "historic."

"Minnesotans value voting. Period. That is a fact. And that shows up in the laws that we pass and the reforms that we embrace," Simon added.

Former Minnesota Secretary of State Joan Growe advocated for automatic voter registration during her more than two decades in office. She was present for the bill signing.

"Fifty years it took," Walz said to Growe, shaking her hand after he signed the bill. "Let's do the next one sooner."

Briefly the changes are:

1. Eligible voters will automatically be registered when they get or renew their driver's license. (This has the wingnuts all nodding their heads and saying that this is why the legislature passed a law earlier in the session allowing undocumented people to get a license).

2. Sixteen and 17-year-olds in Minnesota will soon be able to pre-register by submitting a standard voter registration application.

3. Permanent absentee voter list. This allows people to make have an absentee ballot mailed to their homes automatically rather than fill out an application for a ballot each election. Anyone can do this but it is a real boon for those who have difficulty getting to the polls.

4. It is now a gross misdemeanor to knowingly spread false information meant to keep someone from voting. This includes giving out bad info about registration requirements, when an election is taking place, where to vote, and threats to physical safety.

5.New disclosure rules for all ads & mailings that are clearly meant to influence voters (some nonprofits get around the current rules by never using words like "vote for (or against) ". It also bar some activity by foreign influenced corporations.