Win for Voter Data Privacy in Court Case with LWVMN Amicus Brief

This week, the Supreme Court of Minnesota protected voters. Minnesota Voters Alliance (MVA) had sued the Secretary of State to give the organization invasive, nonpublic data on every voter. The Court ensured voters' private information did not become publicly available.

MVA said they wanted this information to check that Minnesota isn’t letting ineligible people vote. But releasing this information in other states has led to false accusations of voter fraud and to the harassment and intimidation of voters. Furthermore, the Office of the Legislative Auditor comprehensively studied voter registration in 2018. It found that ineligible voters are rare and regularly prosecuted by county attorneys.

The League of Women Voters of Minnesota applauds this result, recognizing that voter eligibility has already been well-studied in Minnesota by nonpartisan auditing experts. The law was always clear that the information was never available to MVA. Our system has been and continues to be a successful deterrent. We also recognize that voter privacy is essential to foster public trust.

MN State Supreme Court rules in favor of voters in Cilek v. Simon (full opinion)