Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law speeding up voting rights restoration
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The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a state law that expands voter eligibility for people with felony records.
The court did not rule on the legal arguments made against the 2023 law allowing people in Minnesota to vote upon leaving prison or other custody. Rather, in a unanimous decision, the justices affirmed a lower-court ruling that the group challenging the law lacked legal standing to do so.
Wednesday’s decision came with early voting already underway ahead of Minnesota’s primary next Tuesday.
The conservative Minnesota Voters Alliance had sued over the law last year, arguing the state Legislature overstepped its authority in re-enfranchising Minnesotans who’d not fully served out their sentences.
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The law restored voting rights to an estimated 55,000 people with felony convictions.
During arguments before the Supreme Court in April, several justices questioned whether the Minnesota Voters Alliance had grounds to sue. An attorney for the group argued that spending on public awareness for the law gave it standing.
But in the ruling issued Wednesday, Chief Justice Natalie Hudson wrote that “taxpayer standing does not exist when a taxpayer simply seeks to generally restrain ‘illegal action[s] on the part of public officials.’ Instead, we recognize taxpayer standing only when the central dispute involves alleged unlawful disbursements of public funds.”
In this case, the opinion stated, the spending being challenged by the group was only “incidental” to the law.
Because it found the group lacked standing, the court did not take up the Minnesota Voters Alliance’s legal argument against the bill. The group had argued that the Minnesota Constitution requires people convicted of felonies to complete all parts of their sentences before their civil rights — including voting rights — are restored. The law, they argued, was too selective in what rights it restored.
In a statement after the opinion was released Wednesday, noting that early primary voting is already taking place, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said “it is critically important that every voter understands their rights. The Restore the Vote Act remains the law of the land. If you are not currently incarcerated, a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old, and a resident of Minnesota for 20 days, and have not had your rights to vote revoked by a court — you can vote in Minnesota.”
Doug Seaton, president and founder of the Upper Midwest Law Center which represented the Minnesota Voters Alliance, said the ruling was disappointing.
“We are deeply frustrated that the Minnesota Supreme Court chose to limit our clients’ rights as taxpayers to challenge their government’s unlawful actions in the courts,” Seaton said in a statement. “This decision sidesteps the necessary constitutional scrutiny and leaves Minnesotans without a clear resolution on the legality of significant changes to our voting laws.”