Voting Rights
MPP actively supports election laws that make voting fair and accessible for all citizens. Current priorities include:
Supporting early voting proposals
Early voting allows voters to cast their ballot in the days prior to Election Day. Voters could visit their local election office, confirm their voting eligibility, and fill out their ballot. Early voting enables election officials to address many of the problems that may occur right away, such as ballots that are filled out incorrectly, mismatched signatures, or voters with an incorrect ballot; all giving voters more assurance their vote will be counted. An early voting process would allow individuals to resolve problems with their voter eligibility in a reasonable time period. It relieves poll congestion on Election Day and facilitates more widespread voter participation. 32 states currently have early voting processes in place.
Opposing photo identification requirements that will create barriers to voting
Voter impersonation has never been a concern in Minnesota. Proposals to make photo identification the sole means by which a voter can receive a ballot will frustrate or suppress legitimate voters while not adding any real security to the system.
Supporting absentee ballots without a required excuse
Minnesota’s current absentee ballot process requires absentee voters to state one of four reasons for requesting to vote absentee (absence from precinct on Election Day, a conflicting religious observance of religious holiday, an illness or disability, or service as election judge in another precinct). Minnesota’s law should be changed to allow for no excuse mail-in voting, allowing any eligible voter in Minnesota to request to vote by mail without requiring a specific reason why. Currently 28 states allow for no-excuse mail-in voting.
Automatic registration and improved registration
There are number improvements that can be made to the registration system. Voters should be able to check the status of their registration online with the Secretary of State to clarify their status and catch problems with their registration before Election Day. The Minnesota Department of Motor Vehicles should automatically register people when they apply for their driver’s license with the option to opt-out for those who do not wish to be registered. Applications would be cross-checked with an array databases to identify individuals who are not eligible to vote. Steps like this would allow for a reduction in the number of people who register and re-register by using data that the government has already collected. This reduces administrative time and costs and decrease barriers to voting.
