Washington, D.C. - Today, Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) joined Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (WI-01), Majority Whip Tom Emmer (MN-06), Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-08), and Congressman Brad Finstad (MN-01) in sending a letter to Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon asking how his office plans to investigate claims that DACA recipients and other non-citizens are voting in Minnesota’s elections.
“Voter integrity and voter confidence are key to the future of our elections,” said Rep. Fischbach. “The Secretary of State should be doing everything he can to ensure lawful elections, rather than ignoring, or worse, encouraging, non-citizens voting in American elections. Minnesotans deserve to know what steps the Secretary will be taking to reassure the public that our elections are secure.”
"As we work to restore voter confidence, we must ensure that only eligible Americans are able to cast a ballot," said Chairman Steil. "It is deeply concerning that in Minnesota, non-citizens are proudly touting that they have repeatedly voted in elections -- which is not only against both state and federal law, but ultimately undermines the integrity of our elections. Secretary Simon must identify how this was able to happen and immediately provide a remedy."
"Any ineligible ballot cast in Minnesota should be cause for serious concern,” said Majority Whip Emmer. “If Secretary of State Simon will not appropriately investigate claims of non-citizens illegally voting, we will demand answers. Thank you to Chairman Steil for leading this effort to restore Minnesota voters’ confidence in our elections.”
“Ensuring the integrity of our elections is key to restoring Americans’ faith in our electoral system," said Rep. Stauber. "Secretary Simon owes us clear answers on the very troubling allegations of noncitizens voting in Minnesota and what measures he’s taking to ensure only citizens are voting in our elections. Let me be clear- only legal American citizens should be able to vote in American elections.”
“Minnesota voters deserve to have confidence in their elections, which means assurance from the Secretary of State that ballots are cast only by those who are eligible to vote,” said Rep. Finstad. “Intentional violations of voter eligibility must be taken seriously, which is why I am joining my colleagues in demanding answers from Secretary Simon about the security of future elections in Minnesota.”
Background: In testimony offered at a January 10th hearing by the Minnesota House Transportation Finance and Policy Committee, a Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipient exclaimed, “We are voting. Our people are voting.” In response, instead of launching any investigation of this unlawful activity, the Secretary's office responded, “noncitizen voting is [not] a problem in Minnesota or nationally.”
The full letter can be found here.
