A bill to expand voting rights, improve voting accessibility, and provide protections for Minnesota voters is now law.
Governor Tim Walz signed the Democracy for the People Act on Friday morning inside the Minnesota State Capitol.
When it comes to expanding voting rights and accessibility, the bill allows Minnesota voters to opt-in to a permanent absentee voter list, and creates automatic voter registration while giving 16 and 17-year-olds the ability to pre-register for voting.
"We're not telling people how to vote and we're not telling people if they have to vote," Walz said. "We're just making sure that the process to get them registered is easy to get them in there. Then we're going to encourage them. We know when people register to vote, they go vote. When more people vote, the democracy is much more represented and you get the results that the vast majority of folks want to get."
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Included in the bill are penalties for anyone who spreads false information about voting 60 days before an election. DFL-supporters in the Minnesota House add that the bill reduces the influence of "dark money" and foreign influence in Minnesota politics.
"This bill is a historic victory but it is not a partisan victory," said Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. "Red states, blue states, and purple states have adopted the measures that we're talking about today. That's because these reforms are non-partisan in origin and non-partisan in effect. They benefit all Minnesotans. This new law will help in our ongoing work to make our Minnesota elections the most fair, accurate, honest, and secure in the nation. This is what democracy for the people looks like."
Opponents of the bill signed Friday by Governor Walz say it takes away from election transparency and that elements could lead to more election fraud.
"By enacting the Democracy for the People, we are choosing democracy," said Rep. Emma Greenman (DFL-Minneapolis). "Minnesota is choosing 'We the people.' We are choosing Minnesotans, we are choosing multi-racial, gender-inclusive, multi-generational democracy with Minnesotans at the center. And we are choosing to be a North Star."