FILE - Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon discusses election security challenges during a news conference at the State Capitol in St. Paul, Minn., Jan. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Steve Karnowski, File)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (KFGO/WCCO) – The election is less than a week away and thousands of Minnesotans will be voting after a law was passed last year.
At least 55,000 additional Minnesotans are now eligible to vote in the upcoming election thanks to the Restore the Vote Act passed last year. The new law gives formerly incarcerated citizens who have left prison a right to vote.
Secretary Simon says he and his office are working against disinformation that could stop eligible voters from getting to the polls.
“People are paying the most attention, whether it’s something about the rules, whether it’s something about the structure of the election in our office,” Simon explains. “We never, ever talk about candidates, who to vote for, or any of that. But when it comes to the mechanics of the election system, we don’t want people to be misled.”
The newly effective law marks the largest expansion of voting rights since the voting age in Minnesota was lowered to 18.
Simon says he visited all 11 of Minnesota state prisons this past summer to help make sure as many eligible voters as possible participate this year.
“Now it’s real clear, if you’re in prison for a felony, no, you can’t vote,” Simon explained. “But the minute you step out in Minnesota, and many, many states, now you can vote. And our job today, in all ways, is just to get the word out so that people know this is a thing.”
Simon also had a message for the 300,000 Minnesotans who still haven’t returned their mail in absentee ballots. He said get them in mail as soon as possible to make sure they reach polling locations before 8:00 p.m. on Election Night.
Also, Minnesotans who are at least 16 years old are now able to pre-register to vote both online and with paper voter registration forms. Eligible 16 and 17-year olds who pre-register will become automatically registered to vote on the day they turn 18 as part of the new law.
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