In the face of potentially conflicting court decisions, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is pressing forward with his plan to waive witness requirements for absentee ballots in the state’s August primary.
The move is drawing criticism from Republicans.
Early absentee voting for the Aug. 11 statewide primary begins Friday.
Following lawsuits in state and federal court seeking to relax voting restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic, Simon has decided to proceed in two ways that are not consistent with state law:
- Mailed-in absentee ballots for the primary will be accepted even if they don’t have witness signatures. Minnesota usually requires that the witness be a registered voter or notary public.
- Ballots received within two days of the Aug. 11 primary date will be accepted as long as they’re postmarked by Election Day. Current state law says absentee ballots must be received by 8 p.m. of Election Day, so the change would accommodate those who mail their ballots at the last minute, as well as potential delays by the postal service.
Last week, Simon, in consultation with Attorney General Keith Ellison, agreed to make those changes as part of settlements of two lawsuits.
One of the lawsuits was brought by the left-leaning Minnesota Alliance for Retired Americans, which has filed a number of such lawsuits nationwide. Simon and Ellison are Democrats. The agreement to settle that suit, filed in Ramsey County District Court, was approved by Judge Sara Grewing.
The other suit, filed by the League of Women Voters in federal court, was settled with a nearly identical agreement. However, on Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Eric C. Tostrud granted a motion to intervene by the state and national Republican Party and President Donald Trump and decided to not accept Simon’s agreement with the League.
Simon decided he’ll follow the state court.
“(The) U.S. District Court ruling does not affect last week’s state court ruling that the consent decree is fair, adequate, reasonable, and in the public interest,” Simon said in a statement Tuesday. “We are bound by the ruling of the state district court and will comply with the order, which means two things: Minnesotans who vote absentee will not be required to provide a witness signature on their ballot for the August 11 primary. Additionally, ballots postmarked by Primary Election Day will be accepted up to two days after Primary Election Day.”
Simon’s decision only affects the primary, not November’s general election. However, an attorney for the Alliance told the Pioneer Press that they’ll push for the same accommodations for November’s election.
REPUBLICAN CRITICISM
Republican lawmakers last week accused Simon of circumventing the Legislature’s authority.
On Wednesday, Jennifer Carnahan, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, released a statement that read, in part: “Liberals in Minnesota and around the country know they are going to have a tough time on Election Day 2020, so they are attempting to manipulate our elections through lawsuits instead of legislation.”
Before becoming a judge, Grewing, a Democrat, previously served as chief of staff for former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman. She was appointed to the bench in 2015 by former Gov. Mark Dayton, a Democrat. Tostrud, a law school adjunct professor and former attorney in private practice, was appointed to the federal bench by Trump in 2018.