An audit of Minnesota’s voter registration system mostly validated steps taken to update records and verify eligibility, although the report does recommend ways to better maintain those records and verify their accuracy in a timely fashion.
The Office of the Legislative Auditor reviewed records from 2024 in reaching its conclusions. The resulting audit found wide compliance with identity verification steps — noting those were done correctly by counties in 99 percent of cases when done through automated procedures but at lower rates when done manually.
Auditors also said counties could do a better job of updating voter records, including for formerly incarcerated people who have voting rights restored.
“It is important that the voter status in each SVRS voter registration record is accurate to help ensure a fair and secure election system,” auditors wrote. “An incorrect voter status can impede someone from exercising their legal right to vote or allow someone to vote unchallenged when they should be required to present additional information.”
Election administration is in the spotlight as the midterm approaches and Republicans, led by President Donald Trump, repeatedly raise doubts about voting integrity.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said he appreciated the guidance offered in ensuring state and county partners are following prescribed steps.
“Minnesota is proud of its accurate, fair, secure, accessible and trusted election system,” Simon, a three-term Democrat, wrote in a response appended to the audit. “And this report reflects the complex administration work done at both the state and local levels to ensure compliance with both state and federal laws.”
Cory Kampf, president of the Minnesota Association of County Officers, said he agrees that “improvements can and should be made.” But Kampf said the local administrators believe that some of the perceived lapses could have been cases where determination work was done outside of the Statewide Voter Registration System or is difficult to carry out close to an election with many priorities to balance.
“Additional avenues to register, along with other new election laws, have placed new workload demands on county election offices,” Kampf wrote.
The audit did not address others involved in voter registration, including other state agencies and election judges who are part of the election-day registration process. Nor did the audit cover voter outreach efforts or election security.
The report was presented to a legislative committee Wednesday, during which Democrats praised the report, saying it shows the integrity of the state’s voting systems.
“I'll just be honest, I've never been in an audit before of most of our things that say over 99 percent, both accuracy and accessibility,” said Rep. Emma Greenman, DFL-Minneapolis.
But Republicans did not have such a rosy view, saying that any kind of lapses, even if it is a small percentage, could allow someone to cast a vote in a close election. They honed in on Election Day registrations.
“We should have a mechanism where we verify the identity prior to that ballot getting cast, so that we don't have to worry about trying to figure out we can't pull a ballot back, it's in the box,” said Sen. Cal Bahr, R-East Bethel.
Minnesota has nearly 3.8 million people registered to vote as of this January. That includes some 33,000 who are on a challenged status that requires them to answer questions before being permitted to vote.
The state and counties share responsibility to maintain the voter registration system, although counties deal more often with the records because they manage polling places and handle ballots on the day of elections.
The system is supposed to be updated when counties learn that a voter’s circumstances have changed — they move, they die, they are placed under a guardianship or they become ineligible due to incarceration for a felony conviction, for instance.
Auditors said the secretary of state’s office satisfied its requirements to pass along information from state agencies but counties didn’t always update their records as required by law. The report recommends that both election administration partners take steps to keep the records up to date.
The Legislature often follows the audits in crafting or revising laws. The Legislature next convenes in January.
