SF173 and HF9

by Cassidy Pelkey, Policy Coordinator

The Minnesota House and Senate have been in session for roughly a month and a half now. So, what’s happening?

There are a vast number of bills that are being authored, presented in committee, discussed, passed through to different committees, discussed more, and so on-- the beginning of session always sees a boom in new bills. From the conception of a bill to its becoming law is often a lengthy and sometimes fraught process, so it’s not crazy to believe that news from the hill seems a little sparse at the moment. Bills are still slowly, but surely, making their way through committees and onto the House and Senate floor.

That being said, there are a couple of bills that the League is paying particular attention to: Senate File 173 (SF173) and House File 9 (HF9). These bills are interestingly interconnected, yet vastly different and so provide a unique contrast.

Let’s start by taking a closer look at SF173. This bill seeks to establish the requirement for every voter to show a photo identification in order to register to vote and cast their ballot. In order to obtain a photo ID, a voter must provide documents, such as a birth certificate, that certify they are who they say they are and they live where they say they do. If any of these documents is expired or invalid for any reason, they are not able to obtain the photo ID. If a person does not have a valid photo ID (if it is expired, or has the wrong address, for example), or is unable to obtain one, they must cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. After casting the provisional ballot the voter has seven days to go to their local elections office and “cure” their ballot by providing the necessary documents or photo ID to confirm their registration and vote. To read the specific list of provisions in the bill, click here, or you can read the exact bill language here, if interested. We’ll discuss more about the impact of this bill shortly.

So far SF173 has made it through three committees, and has been referred to another. The next hearing for the bill is not scheduled. Although this bill may pass the Senate, it will likely not be heard in the House. This all means this bill will likely never become law. 

Now let’s take a look at HF9. This bill is massive; it contains provisions that address nearly every aspect of elections. Some of the more impactful provisions include: enacting automatic voter registration; reforming the ways voter intimidation can be prosecuted; reforming campaign finance provisions intended to incentivize small donors; restoring the right to vote for felons who have served their time; providing increased safety and security measures for election judges, and much more. If you would like to look at a more complete list of what the bill contains you can do so here. You can also read the bill itself here, if interested (be warned it is over 70 pages long!).

HF9 has been heard in one committee and was passed through to another. The bill has also been split up into multiple smaller bills to increase at the odds of at least one of them passing and becoming law.

Now, as I mentioned earlier, these bills are interestingly interconnected. There are a few reasons I say this. One of the most prominent being that the authors of both SF173 and HF9 claim to have the same stated goal: to improve Minnesota’s elections. These bills, however, have different means to achieve their ends.

SF173 seeks to improve Minnesota elections through adding another check on who is registering to vote and voting. Under current Minnesota statute, a voter can validly register to vote and vote through a number of means that prove identity and residence. That list can be found here. SF 173 would change the current list of acceptable documents to be only those that contain a photo identification and proof of residency (that list can be found in the bill here, lines 10.28-14.6). 

The League finds this take problematic, for a number of reasons. In short, photo ID requirements have been found to reduce voter turnout while accomplishing nothing for voter integrity (voter impersonation is nonexistent in Minnesota). The ID requirements also generally disenfranchise voters because of the extra steps and costs necessary to obtain the required identification. You can find a more extensive list with sources here.

HF9, on the other hand, aims to achieve its goal of improving Minnesota elections by increasing accessibility to the elections and therefore voter participation and turnout. Among the changes this bill would implement towards its goal is what is called “automatic voter registration,” or AVR. Under current Minnesota law, a resident can register to vote when getting a driver’s license, for example, by checking a box on the form. AVR would switch this so that everyone who is getting a new or updated driver’s license would be automatically registered to vote unless they checked a box to ‘opt-out’ of registering. The idea behind this is that it increases voter registrations, and thus makes it easier for voters to engage and participate in elections. In general, HF9 seeks to increase voter participation through getting as many people as possible engaged in the election systems.

The League’s central mission is to defend democracy and empower voters, and therefore supports potential legislation that falls in line with that mission. Through automatic voter registration, tackling voter intimidation, and so much more, HF9 would forward this mission, if enacted into law.  

These bills have clearly differentiated means of achieving their stated goals of improving Minnesota’s elections systems. Neither bill has much of a chance of becoming law in their current forms, but it is nonetheless interesting to see how widely the takes vary on how elections should be conducted. Although news from the Minnesota Capitol may seem a bit dull at the moment there are still fierce debates, such as this one, being waged.