Election officials review voter registrations after problems detected in automated system
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State election officials on Thursday announced that they are making verification changes to Minnesota’s automatic voter registration system after they found some potentially problematic entries.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office said that more than 90,000 people have been registered or pre-registered since April when the new system went live.
Minnesotans who apply for and receive a state-issued ID are registered to vote without having to opt in if they meet legal criteria. And 16- and 17-year-olds can be pre-registered to vote once they turn 18.
Of the automatic registrations, about 1 percent were flagged for potential problems, according to Public Safety Commissioner Bob Jacobson. Secretary of State Steve Simon said those roughly 1,000 voter registrations will become inactive until names, addresses and citizenship status are confirmed.
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Simon said additional checks will be made to ensure voters registered through the system meet eligibility criteria. He noted the change could lengthen the timeframe to process registrations.
“The Office of Secretary of State has worked with DVS to add additional quality assurance to the process to catch and correct the instances of human error,” Simon said. “Moving forward, DVS is using two distinct staff areas to double-check all documentation at DVS before applicant files are sent to be registered to vote.”
Minnesota Republicans raised questions about the automatic voter registration system earlier this month. And they called on state public safety leaders to provide additional answers about the screening process, as well as how many prospective voters had been reviewed through the system.
The state Driver and Vehicle Services Division updated its protocols to conduct more front-end verification steps. Jacobson said he’s not aware of any instances of Minnesotans being registered to vote that are ineligible to cast a ballot.
“Minnesota has a proud tradition of broad voter participation and unquestionably fair and secure elections,” Jacobson wrote in a letter to Republican Party leaders. “The process improvements taken by DVS to implement these protocols help further these important goals and strengthen the AVR system.”
Republicans in the Legislature responded to the news Friday saying it raised additional questions about the automatic registration system.
“The election is 52 days away, and early voting begins on September 20. Minnesotans want to trust our elections are secure and fair,” they said in a statement. “They deserve to know if our election officials can even answer these questions when asked.”
