Secretary Of State Steve Simon Wants Party Preference Private In Presidential Primary

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is asking legislators to change a state law that requires voters to declare a party preference in the state's 2020 presidential primary and makes that information public data.

Simon said in a statement Wednesday that there's no good reason to require public disclosure of voters' party preferences.

He also says the state law, which passed in 2016, fails to cover all the costs to local governments of running the presidential primary, which will be one of three statewide elections held in 2020.

Simon says one potential solution to the privacy and cost issues is to conduct the presidential primary by mail, which he says could save millions of dollars and let voters express their party choice in the privacy of their own homes.