Tag: Steve Simon

Tensions over Minnesota election outcome on display as Senate panel meets

At GOP-led hearing on election integrity, Secretary of State Steve Simon warns of ‘disinformation.’ 

Disinformation and conspiracy theories about this year’s vote are a danger to election workers and democracy itself, Minnesota Secretary of State Simon warned Tuesday at a state Senate hearing called to examine the election’s integrity.

With the presidential race’s outcome under continued but unsuccessful legal attack by President Donald Trump and allies, Republican state Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer of Big Lake raised questions about pandemic-driven changes to Minnesota’s voting procedures that have since been the subject of court wrangling.

Still, Kiffmeyer, a former secretary of state and frequent critic of Simon, said in a subsequent press release that “so far, claims of widespread fraud have not held up under scrutiny or in the courts.” Continue reading.

Minnesota panel signs off on election results, says voting system clean

Simon finds “no credible allegations” of fraud in vote. 

Minnesota’s top election officials signed off on the results of this year’s vote on Tuesday, giving the state’s process a clean bill of health even as a group of Republicans filed a last-minute legal challenge.

“Our voting equipment is incredibly accurate and the postelection review in front of you proves that,” David Maeda, the state’s director of elections, told members of the five-person state canvassing board led by Secretary of State Steve Simon, which met to make official the outcome of the Nov. 3 vote.

Despite unprecedented challenges presented by the pandemic, Maeda reported that a random audit of precincts in all 87 counties failed to show a level of irregularities that would have, by law, triggered a full-county recount anywhere.

That’s never happened since the state began that form of post-election testing in 2006, Maeda added. Continue reading.

Federal judges order Minnesota’s post-Election Day ballots to be held

Minn. votes received after 8 p.m. Election Day to be set aside for possible challenge. 

A federal court sided Thursday with a GOP challenge to Minnesota’s extended deadline for receiving absentee ballots after Election Day, imperiling a state rule that would count mail-in ballots received up to a week after Tuesday’s election.

In a 2-1 decision, a panel of Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges ordered that all mail-in ballots received after 8 p.m. on Election Day be set aside, setting the stage for a potential legal battle after the election. But the order stopped short of a final determination on the validity of the post-Election Day ballots.

The ruling came in a case brought by Minnesota GOP presidential electors challenging a state rule allowing election officials to count ballots received until Nov. 10, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3. It is one of several Republican challenges to extended deadlines that were adopted in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina in response to concerns about the pandemic and potential mail delays. Continue reading.

Secretary Simon Introduces Plan For Elections in a Pandemic

On April 8, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon appeared before the House Elections Committee to introduce a bill that would give the Secretary of State’s Office temporary expanded authority to ensure the conduct of safe elections during this time of pandemic emergency.

“The administration of elections has become a public health issue. Minnesotans should not have to choose between their health and their right to vote,” said Secretary Simon. “After talking with elections professionals from all levels of government throughout the state, the goal became very clear to me: we need to minimize exposure at polling places and maximize voting by mail.”

If the bill were enacted, Minnesota’s elections for 2020 would include the following temporary, one-time changes: Continue reading “Secretary Simon Introduces Plan For Elections in a Pandemic”

Secretary of State Steve Simon on the End of the Legislative Session

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Secretary of State Steve Simon issued the following statement regarding the end of the special legislative session:

“The next statewide election begins in 238 days,” said Secretary of State Simon. “As of today, the legislature has agreed to authorize the full $6.6 million in HAVA funding to my office so that we can further secure Minnesota’s elections. We have been preparing for this day for more than a year and I am grateful to the legislative leaders who saw the wisdom in getting this done before our next statewide elections, particularly the bipartisan leadership in the House from Representatives Nelson, Dehn, O’Driscoll, and Nash. Thank you.

“The legislature also agreed to take important steps to protect voter privacy for the 2020 Presidential Nominating Primary contest. Thanks to the leadership of Representative Halverson, presidential primary voters no longer have to worry about their party choice being made available to the voting public. Though my preference has always been to keep ballot choice private, compromise on this issue – to make data available only to the major political parties – is largely consistent with what would have been available under the traditional caucus system. Continue reading “Secretary of State Steve Simon on the End of the Legislative Session”

Phillips to Host Community Conversation on H.R.1

 

Rep. Dean Phillips will host a free and open-to-the-public community conversation focused on H.R. 1, the For the People Act, a sweeping campaign finance, ethics, and electoral reform package he sponsored on his first day in Congress.

COMMUNITY CONVERSATION ON H.R. 1 – THE “FOR THE PEOPLE ACT”

WHEN:  Wednesday, February 20, 2019

Doors Open: 6:15 PM
Events Start: 6:30 PM

WHERE:  Hopkins High School Little Theater, 2400 Lindbergh Dr, Minnetonka, MN 55305

WHO:

Rep. Dean Phillips (MN-03)
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon
Tiffany Muller, President, End Citizens United
Prof. David Schultz, Hamline University

Secretary of State Steve Simon lays out his “Investing in Democracy” Agenda

On January 3, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon was joined by an array of Minnesota legislators as he laid out his “Investing in Democracy” agenda. 

“Investing in Democracy means devoting resources to strengthen Minnesota’s nation-leading systems and the Minnesotans who rely on them.” said Simon. 

The following are the changes to Minnesota’s voting law that Simon is hoping enact:

Restoration of Rights

Ease of access to the ballot is a central tenet of Minnesota’s elections. In Minnesota, however, a person who has been convicted of a felony but has left prison behind is ineligible to vote while on parole or on probation. Continue reading “Secretary of State Steve Simon lays out his “Investing in Democracy” Agenda”

Return Steve Simon as Minnesota secretary of state

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon toured the Ramsey County elections office in 2016 with elections manager Joe Mansky. Simon seeks re-election this year.

Steve Simon likes to say that he’s in the “democracy business.”

Business is brisk under Simon’s watch as Minnesota’s secretary of state, with voter turnout among the highest nationwide for nearly every election. For that and other key reasons, Minnesotans should re-elect Simon on Nov. 6.

Of course, some will have already voted before Election Day during the “no-excuses” absentee voting period. That expanded capability to engage in our democracy can be credited in part to a bill sponsored by Simon during his days as a DFL legislator from St. Louis Park. Those efforts have paid off, with 2018 vote totals already far surpassing the pace of the 2014 midterms and even the hotly contested 2016 presidential election.

The expanded access reflects Simon’s belief in bolstering participation in elections, and by extension our collective civic life. It’s an ethos that stands in stark contrast to the disgraceful, antidemocratic attempts to suppress voting through onerous, often racially motivated restrictions enacted in North Dakota, Georgia and several other states this year.

View the complete October 26 editorial by the Star Tribune Editorial Board October 26, 2018 here.

Steve Simon: Getting Things Done

Here’s a note from Secretary of State Steve Simon:

I’m up for re-election in 10 days, and I’m working my hardest everyday.
My team isn’t taking anything for granted.
Today, we’re putting out a new digital ad with a few of my proudest accomplishments as your Secretary of State, and my vision for the office moving forward.
  1. I returned Minnesota to number one in the nation in voter turnout.
  2. I protected our election system from foreign interference.
  3. I support early voting and automated voter registration to ensure that even more Minnesotans have access to the ballot box.

Imagine what else we could accomplish when we all focus on getting results for Minnesota.

I hope you’ll take the time to watch my new ad and share it with your family and friends.

As I travel the state in these final 10 days, it keeps me going knowing you’re there with me. Whether it’s large crowds at GOTV rallies in the cities, intimate conversations in campaign offices in Duluth, coffee and bagels in Moorhead, or guided tours of Somali malls, I know that you’re by my side.

That’s how we won four years ago. Together. And if we keep working together for the next 10 days, that’s how we’ll win this year, too.

Thanks for being a part of this.