GOP lawmaker claims she found "problematic" information in Hennepin County voter rolls
Republican Minnesota Rep. Pam Altendorf says Hennepin County voter information she's obtained is "problematic."
Altendorf said she requested and reviewed voter rolls from Minnesota's most populous county and, on Thursday at the Capito,l shared some of her findings.
"Things like 12 people living in a one-bedroom apartment," Altendorf said. "We have situations where it looks like same person, same name, two voter IDs."
Altendorf pointed to concerns about hundreds of voters over the age of 100 years old and many more missing information like full names, birthdates and addresses. The Republican lawmaker from southern Minnesota also claimed that over 7,000 voters on the rolls were marked as challenged.
A spokesperson for the Minnesota Secretary of State's Office said while the representative hasn't shared her findings with their office, the "challenged status" is part of election security and requires officials to confirm information with a potential voter before they can cast a ballot.
Hennepin County confirmed they did share voter information with Altendorf, but says the challenged status of voters was mistakenly released. Hennepin County Elections explained the error to county commissioners in a letter.
"As a result of this error, Hennepin County Elections has put new procedures in place when requests like this one arise, to ensure only appropriate data is shared," the letter states. "Hennepin County Elections remains confident in the integrity of its processes and will continue to follow review and audit procedures under state law."
The letter also highlighted the fact that some Minnesotans may have a birth year of 1900 in the system because state law did not require voters who registered before 1983 to provide their birthday. Once the state moved to a digital system, 1900 was used as a placeholder.
Hennepin County said over 800,000 people are registered to vote across the county and over 700,000 voters cast ballots in the 2024 general election.
The debate over sharing voter information extends far beyond Hennepin County, with the U.S. Department of Justice requesting state voter rolls multiple times, most recently in a letter from Attorney General Pam Bondi.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said he wouldn't hand over the information.
"This starts and ends with the law, federal law, state law; they've got to show with particularity why they need this specific material and they've got to show what they intend to do with it," Simon said during an interview with WCCO at the beginning of February.
Minnesota, alongside about 20 other states, is facing off with the Trump administration in court over this issue.
As for Altendorf, she's seeking more transparency.
"We are asking to be able to verify that the voter rolls are clean and that should be a minimal expectation in Minnesota," Altendorf said.
