Skip to main content Skip to office menu Skip to footer
Capital IconMinnesota Legislature

Election law change would mean consistency for county attorneys

The responsibility of investigating alleged voter fraud could be taken off the laps of Minnesota’s 87 county attorneys.

HF275, sponsored by Rep. Tim O'Driscoll (R-Sartell), would remove a section of state election law compelling county attorneys to proceed with prosecutions in cases of alleged voter fraud if a complaint or evidence is brought forward.

The bill was laid over Tuesday by the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee for possible omnibus bill inclusion. It has no Senate companion.

The bill proposes that voter fraud prosecutions proceed like other cases brought before the state’s county attorneys, leaving the responsibility of investigations to law enforcement officials.

“Part of what this bill does, in my opinion, is puts the purity back in state law,” O’Driscoll said.

Similar language was stripped from an omnibus elections policy bill during conference committee negotiations with the Senate in 2013.

O’Driscoll cited a pair of cases of elderly voters suffering from dementia as the impetus for the legislation. In those cases, the voter had voted absentee, then attempted to cast a ballot on Election Day. Because of current state law, county prosecutors were forced to move forward before the cases were thrown out by a judge.

“It seems like a common sense bill,” said Rep. Yvonne Selcer (DFL-Minnetonka). 


Related Articles


Priority Dailies

Minnesota’s projected budget surplus balloons to $3.7 billion, but fiscal pressure still looms
(House Photography file photo) Just as Minnesota has experienced a warmer winter than usual, so has the state’s budget outlook warmed over the past few months. On Thursday, Minnesota Management and Budget...
Legislative leaders announce 2024 committee deadlines
(House Photography file photo) Legislators and the public officially know the timeline for getting bills through the House committee process during the upcoming 2024 session. Here are the two deadlines fo...

Minnesota House on Twitter