A Minnesota state representative is questioning the integrity of voter roll data in the state’s most populous county, setting off a dispute over access to election records.
“Why is there such an effort to block us or any election integrity group to see this information?” state Rep. Pam Altendorf said Saturday.
“If they’re clean, that’s great. And if not, if [Minnesota Secretary of State] Steve Simon is unable or unwilling to clean our voter rolls, then we absolutely have to get federal help because this is disenfranchising every legal voter in Minnesota.”
Altendorf said the dispute stems from her attempt to obtain active voter roll data from multiple Minnesota counties. She submitted data requests to four counties after reviewing state statutes and consulting with election integrity groups, arguing that as vice chair of the Minnesota House Elections Committee, she has the authority to access the information.
According to Altendorf, Minnesota’s secretary of state directed counties not to provide her with the information. Three counties declined to comply with her request, while Hennepin County — the state’s largest county by population — provided the data.
After reviewing the Hennepin County records, Altendorf said she identified nearly 3,000 active voter entries missing key identifying information, such as birthdates, names and addresses, as well as what she described as potential duplicate records.
Though she did not provide specific examples, she also said she found voters listed as over 100 years old.
However, according to Alpha News, 1900 was used as a placeholder birth year for voters who registered before 1983 since they were not required to provide their date of birth.
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A spokesperson for Hennepin County told the outlet that they administer elections in accordance with state law and guidance from the secretary of state’s office.
The spokesperson also said that “address verification is a routine reason a voter record may be flagged as challenged, ‘including when a registration confirmation postcard is returned as undeliverable.’”
Altendorf began pursuing the data after learning that the Department of Justice had sought voter roll information from states across the country as part of broader election integrity efforts, which she said Minnesota declined to provide due to privacy concerns.
She then reviewed state statutes and worked with election integrity groups, including Minnesota Voters Alliance, before determining she had the authority to request the data herself.
Altendorf said Simon is “actively working to deny” her, as a sitting member of the House Elections Committee, the ability to access voter roll information to determine whether the records are accurate.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
