Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is putting to rest concerns over the state's Driver's License for All law when it comes to voting in this Fall's election.
The law allows undocumented residents to obtain driver's licenses regardless of their immigration status. But Simon tells WCCO's Jordana Green trying to use them for identification purposes at the polls is a deportable felony.
Simon also cites a 10-year study by a University of St. Thomas professor.
"13.3 million voters voted during that 10-year period, and he found 33 out of 13 million, 13.3 million, and over 10 years, three examples of non-citizens attempting to vote in Minnesota," explained Simon. "And by the way, none of the three were here in this country illegally."
The Driver’s License for All initiative expanded the accepted types of documentation required for Minnesotans to receive a standard driver’s license or identification (ID) card.
Passed in 2023, Minnesota joined 18 other states, including the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, to allow a standard driver’s license to be issued without proof of immigration status.
Simon says non-U.S. citizens have been able to obtain driver's licenses in Minnesota for decades, including at one time, his own mother.
In order to register to vote in Minnesota, only a valid Minnesota driver’s license, learner’s permit, Minnesota identification card, or a receipt for one of these documents, is needed at polling places raising concerns that illegal residents are voting. But it comes with penalties that advocates for the law say immigrants are not willing to risk, and Simon says the data backs that up.
"This is just not something that happens more than very, very occasionally and for good reason," Simon explained to WCCO's Jordana Green Friday. "The penalties are swift, they're severe, and the person is gonna get caught."
Post-election reviews would flag the person as a non-citizen and those cases are then given over to the county attorneys according to Minnesota Elections Director Paul Linnell, something some Republicans in the state say is a risk to fair and safe elections in the state.