Purpose

This bill amends Minnesota law to modify what information about voters is publicly available and how that information can be accessed, used, or shared. It aims to limit public exposure of voter data while preserving access for elections-related purposes and law enforcement inquiries.

Main Provisions and Goals

• Public information list contents:
  • The county auditor must provide a public information list showing each registered voter's name, address, birth year/date, and voting history.
  • Data on applicants submitted under another statute (201.061, subd. 1b) are not part of the public list until the voter is registered or has voting history.
  • The list may include voting district information and, if provided by the voter, a telephone number.
  • The list must not include a voter's party choice for presidential nomination primaries.
• Access and administration:
  • The county auditor may adopt reasonable rules governing access to the list.
  • Individuals must provide identification and sign a statement that information will be used only for elections, political activities, or law enforcement.
  • Requests to inspect or obtain information must follow Minnesota Secretary of State rules.
  • If a voter requests, the voter’s name can be withheld from the list for safety reasons, upon the proper process.
• Restrictions on publication and dissemination:
  • Regardless of purpose, recipients may not publish the public information list on the Internet or in any other searchable format, nor may they sell, loan, provide access to, or surrender the information to others.
  • Certain exceptions allow distribution to volunteers, employees, or others within an organization or political subdivision for elections, political activities, or law enforcement in response to a law enforcement inquiry.
  • An organization may transfer the data to its volunteers or employees for those purposes if the information is not published on the Internet.
  • Data can be used to create a database aggregated with data from other sources only if the database is used exclusively for elections or political activities and no information from the public list is published on the Internet. Express written permission from the data subject is required to override these prohibitions.
• Definitions and clarifications:
  • The term “publish” means making information available to the general public.
  • The bill preserves the ability to use aggregated, non-publicly published data for elections or political activities, provided no information from the public list is published on the Internet.
  • The Secretary of State may provide copies of the public information lists and related statewide registration data for elections, political activities, or law enforcement inquiries.

Significant Changes to Existing Law

• Adds explicit privacy and use restrictions to voter information that was previously more broadly accessible.
• Introduces mandatory identification and purpose statements for those requesting access.
• Prohibits public posting and broad distribution of voter-identifying data on the Internet or in searchable formats.
• Creates a safety-based withhold option for a voter's name from public lists.
• Sets rules for how data can be shared internally (e.g., within organizations or in response to law enforcement inquiries) and how aggregated databases may be used without publishing individual records online.

Potential Impacts

• Increased privacy and safety protections for voters by limiting public access to personal data like birth date and voting history.
• Reduced risk of misuse of voter information for political activities or other non-election-related purposes.
• Continued access for legitimate election administration and law enforcement needs, under stricter controls.
• Burden on counties and organizations to comply with new identification, rules, and restrictions.

Implementation and Compliance

• County auditors must implement rules governing access.
• Individuals must identify themselves and attest the purpose of their access.
• Voter data with safety designations can be withheld from the public list upon request.
• Compliance flows through the Secretary of State rules for processing requests.

Relevant Terms - public information list - voting history - birth date / birth year - name - address - voting district - party choice - presidential nomination primary - telephone number - county auditor - secretary of state - statewide registration system - access rules - identification - tampering prohibition - use restrictions - safety withholding - publication restriction - Internet publication ban - aggregated database - elections - political activities - law enforcement - consent / express written permission