Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon says the state's tradition of mail-in voting is solid, despite President Donald Trump's push to abolish the practice nationwide.
Simon telling WCCO's Adam and Jordana at the Minnesota State Fair Thursday that it's a secure system, with strict rules that require voters to submit personal, protected information at two different points in the process.
"If someone were to try to swipe a ballot from a mailbox, they couldn't vote it," says Simon. "They could try, but they, unless they knew the particular personal information that the intended voter used when they ordered the ballot, that ballot will never be counted."
President Donald Trump on Monday vowed more changes to the way elections are conducted in the U.S., but based on the Constitution there is little to nothing he can do on his own.
Relying on false information and conspiracy theories that he's regularly used to explain away his 2020 election loss, Trump pledged on his social media site that he would do away with both mail voting — which remains popular and is used by about one-third of all voters — and voting machines — some form of which are used in almost all of the country's thousands of election jurisdictions. These are the same systems that enabled Trump to win the 2024 election and Republicans to gain control of Congress.
Simon also says Minnesota will not be complying with a recent request from the Trump administration for detailed voter information.
The Justice Department's voting section has recently requested copies of voter registration lists from state election administrators in at least 15 states including Minnesota.
Simon says there's no gray area and the law protects the privacy of voters.
"I got a color in the lines. You know, it's like a coloring book," Simon explains. "The law tells me what those lines are, and both Minnesota law and federal law here say what my course of action needs to be. Which is what I've just described. We've got privacy around that data in Minnesota, and even under federal law. You got to give more."
Justice Department lawyers have contacted officials in at least seven states to propose a meeting about forging an information-sharing agreement related to instances of voting or election fraud.
The unusually expansive outreach has raised alarm among some election officials. That's because states have the constitutional authority to run elections and because federal law protects the sharing of individual data with the government.
Is Simon interested in a gubernatorial run?
On another topic, there is speculation about who might be stepping up from the DFL should Minnesota Governor Tim Walz decide not to run for re-election. Walz telling WCCO's Morning News with Vineeta Sawkar on Thursday he's still undecided on a third consecutive campaign for governor.
A few names on the DFL side have already been mentioned as possible alternatives that that includes Secretary Simon. But, Simon was not revealing much to at the State Fair.
"Honestly, I want to give the governor the space and grace to make his decision," Simon told Adam and Jordana. "He deserves that. He has earned that. And so I don't blame you for asking, but I'm just gonna defer those questions until he's made up his mind about how he wants to do."
Obviously, that's not a firm no, but sources within the state's DFL party have said Simon is interested in a gubernatorial run. That, of course, can only happen if Governor Walz does not run for re-election.