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Legislative News and Views - Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL)

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Rep. Dehn Announces Legislation on Voter Data Privacy for Minnesota’s Presidential Nomination Primary

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

St. Paul, MN – Today, State Representative Raymond Dehn (DFL – Minneapolis), chair of the House Subcommittee on Elections, announced bipartisan legislation to address the data privacy concerns relating to Minnesota’s Presidential Primary. Rep. Dehn was joined by the bill’s Senate author, State Senator Ann Rest (DFL – New Hope); the bill’s co-authors; and Secretary of State Steve Simon, who supports the legislation.

Minnesotans place a great deal of value in their right to vote, as shown by our state’s consistent leadership in voter turnout, and for many that includes the expectation that their vote remains private,” said Rep. Dehn. “While the candidate you choose will always remain secret, we should be responsive to voters’ concerns when it comes to the privacy of their party ballot selection in our presidential primary.”

The House Bill, HF 3068, would restrict the sharing of party preference data only to a national party representative and only for the purpose of verifying participation in the Presidential Nomination Primary. Party preference data would also be categorized as private data, which carries specific requirements and consequences for disseminating the data to the public or a third party. The bill would also create an opt-out mechanism, whereby voters can be excluded form the list in the same fashion where they can opt out of the public information list.

Though Minnesota’s Presidential Primary is on March 3, there is a 10 week window following the primary before voters’ ballot selection data would be sent to state party officials under current law.

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