Voter eligibility for felons

Following the 2008 elections, nearly 80 individuals in Minnesota were convicted of voter fraud. Almost all of them were convicted felons who were out on probation and didn’t know they weren’t allowed to vote.

Making sure offenders are informed of their voter eligibility status is the primary goal of a bill that won committee approval March 13.

Rep. Mike Benson (R-Rochester) sponsors HF2327 that contains the recommendations of the bipartisan Task Force on Election Integrity established by Gov. Mark Dayton in 2011. The task force studied options for preventing fraudulent voting by felons who have lost their civil rights.

The crux of the bill is to improve the notification system for people in the correctional system. It would require the Department of Corrections to share certain data with the Office of the Secretary of State, which would then notify individuals on probation or supervised release of their ineligibility status. After they serve out their sentence and have their civil rights restored, they would be notified that they are eligible to vote again.

The bill would also reduce the penalty for registering to vote while ineligible from a felony to a misdemeanor. If a ballot is actually cast, then it would still be a felony.

The House State Government Finance Committee approved the bill and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee. Sen. Roger Chamberlain (R-Lino Lakes) sponsors the companion, SF2043, which awaits action by the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Committee.

Benson said the bill is designed to make sure felons don’t accidentally end up back in jail for a crime they didn’t know they were committing — a needless and expensive proposition, both for the individuals and for the state.

“The last thing we want to do is to send them back to prison at $90 a day,” Benson said.