MEMORANDUM

To: Interested Parties

From: Robert Haider, Campaign Manager
Date: October 23, 2018
Re: Freedom to Vote Agenda

I. Introduction.

Minnesota has been ranked number one in the nation for voter participation in eight out of the
last nine Presidential elections, and we were number one for seven consecutive national elections
between 1996 and 2010. But by 2014, Minnesota fell to sixth in the nation in voter turnout.
Secretary Simon entered office in 2015 with a challenge to return our state to number one in
2016. He visited every county in Minnesota in 2015, and every year since, to build new
partnerships. He met with Minnesotans in high schools and colleges, chambers of commerce and
union halls, and with election officials throughout the state, to secure our elections and grow the
freedom to vote for every eligible Minnesotan.

Minnesotans responded in 2016, returning to number one in the nation in voter participation.
That momentum has continued in the 2018 Primary Election, when Minnesotans smashed a
decades-old record for highest number of voters (925,554) in a Primary since at least 1950.1 The
23.3 percent of eligible voters who participated was the highest percentage since 1994.

Despite Minnesota’s success since Secretary Simon took office in 2015, he wants to achieve
even more in his second term. Minnesota can continue to be the envy of the nation by pursuing a
Freedom to Vote Agenda; a set of reforms and goals including (but not limited to): (1) automated
voter registration; (2) preregistration for 16-year-olds; (3) true early voting; and (4) restoration of
voting rights for those who have left prison behind.

II. Automated Voter Registration.

Voter registration allows election officials to determine the eligibility of everyone who wants to
vote. Current Minnesota law requires the Department of Public Safety,2 “[a]ll postsecondary
institutions that enroll students accepting state or federal financial aid,”3 and “each state agency
or community-based public agency or nonprofit corporation that contracts with the state agency
to carry out obligations of the state agency”4 to offer voter registration for people who use their

1
Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Secretary Simon Announces Start of Absentee and Early
Voting for 2018 General Election, Sept. 20, 2018, accessible at https://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-the-office/news-
room/secretary-simon-announces-start-of-absentee-and-early-voting-for-2018-general-election/
2
Minn. Stat. § 201.161 (2004).
3
Minn. Stat. § 201.1611 (2004).
4
Minn. Stat. § 201.162 (1987).
services. In other words, if you get a driver’s license, go to college, or use other public services,
you must have the opportunity to opt-in to register to vote.

Secretary Simon’s Freedom to Vote Agenda proposes a simple change to Minnesota law that will
make Minnesota the 14th state5 to implement Automated Voter Registration (AVR). The freedom
to vote means that everyone who is eligible to vote and gets a driver’s license, goes to a public
college, or uses other public services, such as obtaining a hunting or fishing license, among
others, will be automatically registered to vote unless they opt-out.

Simply amending the relevant statutes from a voter registration opt-in to a voter registration opt-
out is consistent with Minnesota’s long bipartisan history of removing barriers to poll access for
every eligible voter. For example, not all eligible voters may know that they are required to re-
register to vote when changing their address. The Freedom to Vote Agenda makes it easier for
these voters to keep their registration current in Minnesota’s statewide registration system, which
is the “official record of registered voters,”6 by automatically updating the system when people
move leading to more participation and more efficient elections.

III. Voter Preregistration For 16-Year-Olds.

Many lifelong habits, both good and bad, start during our teenage years. Young people are far
less likely to be voters than those who are older. Under Minnesota law, in addition to other
requirements, an individual must “be 18 years of age or older” to be eligible to vote.7 Despite
this nationwide requirement, 22 states and the District of Columbia allow people under the age of
18 to preregister to vote.8 Preregistration simply allows a young person to be placed on a list,
with a “pending” registration status, so that he or she joins the voter rolls at the age of eighteen.

Secretary Simon’s Freedom to Vote Agenda encourages high-schoolers to preregister to vote as

early as 16 years old. The Freedom to Vote Agenda, through preregistration, removes a barrier to
getting into the habit of voting at an early age.

IV. True Early Voting And Election Day Vote Centers.

Minnesota has the longest early voting period in the country. Starting 46 days before Election
Day, all eligible Minnesotans can vote from home or at a local government office by absentee
ballot, without having to provide an excuse or explanation. As of October 11, Minnesota is
currently on pace for a record number of people who vote by absentee ballot, as “223,688
absentee ballots have been requested by Minnesota voters. 85,438 have been accepted by
election officials. The rate of absentee ballot requests is an increase of 209 percent over the same
time in the 2014 (last statewide non-presidential election) calendar. The rate of accepted ballots

5
National Conference of State Legislatures, Automatic Voter Registration, Aug. 10, 2018, accessible at
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/automatic-voter-registration.aspx
6
Minn. Stat. § 201.081 (2014).
7
Minn. Stat. § 201.014, Subd. 1(1) (2005).
8
National Conference of State Legislatures, Preregistration for Young Voters, Mar. 28, 2018, accessible at
http://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/preregistration-for-young-voters.aspx
is an increase of 221 percent over the same time in 2014.”9 Despite the ease of voting absentee,
Minnesota still lacks true early voting. An absentee ballot is not officially counted by being
placed into the ballot box until the last day of voting – Election Day.

Secretary Simon’s wants to improve and expand early voting so that your early vote ballot goes
into the ballot box on the day it is cast. Such a system would provide peace of mind for the voter
and administrative ease for local election officials. In addition to expanding the time a voter can
deposit their ballot in the tabulator, the Freedom to Vote Agenda would expand the number of
vote centers.

Many voters find the convenience of voting is an important factor in whether they cast a ballot
on Election Day. While Minnesotans are accustomed to neighborhood-based polling places,
voting centers are an innovative way to increase participation through increased convenience.
Voting centers allow voters to cast a ballot on Election Day at any voting center in their
jurisdiction, no matter where the voter lives within that city or county. Increasing the
convenience of voting increases the freedom to vote.

V. Restoration of Voting Rights.

Ease of access to the ballot is a central tenet of Minnesota’s elections. For a large group of
people, however, that access is denied altogether. Under Minnesota law, a person is not eligible
to vote if they have been “convicted of treason or any felony whose civil rights have not been
restored.”10 In other words, in Minnesota, a person who has been convicted of a felony is
ineligible to vote while in prison, on parole, or on probation. The law says it is safe for people
who have left prison behind to live in our neighborhoods, work, and pay taxes, while saying that
it is too dangerous for those same people to vote? In 14 states and the District of Columbia,
people lose their right to vote when incarcerated for a felony, but that right is restored when they
get out.

The Freedom to Vote Agenda proposes making Minnesota the 15th state in the nation in which
voting rights are restored as soon as a person convicted of a felony is released from prison. If the
justice system determines that an individual is worthy of release back into society, Secretary
Simon believes that they should enjoy the right to participate in our democracy.

VI. Conclusion.

Minnesota is recognized as a national leader when it comes to participation in our elections, and
integrity and confidence in our election system. Still, Secretary Simon has a plan to do even
more to make it as easy as possible for every eligible Minnesotan to have the freedom to vote.
This blueprint – The Freedom to Vote Agenda – is a step in the direction of furthering the
franchise and elections excellence in Minnesota.

9
Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, Minnesotans On Pace for Record Absentee Balloting, Oct.
11, 2018, accessible at https://www.sos.state.mn.us/about-the-office/news-room/minnesotans-on-pace-for-record-
absentee-balloting/
10
Minn. Stat. § 201.014, Subd. 2(1) (2005).