President Donald Trump's Department of Justice is demanding that Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat, turn over his state's voter rolls, according to a letter obtained by Democracy Docket.
The letter cites the Help America Vote Act, a law that was passed in 2002 that creates minimum standards for election administration. It says Minnesota has 30 days to turn over information about processes like voter registration, election security, and its vote-by-mail system. It was written by Maureen Riordan, acting chief for the Voting Section of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division.
Similar demands have been issued to states like Colorado and Pennsylvania.
DOJ's demand letter caused a storm on social media.
"The DOJ swooping into Minnesota’s voter rolls under the guise of HAVA oversight reeks of voter suppression," one commentator posted on X. "Minnesota’s elections are a fortress of fairness; instead of auditing others, maybe the DOJ should clean up its own house. Minnesota’s spotless record shows this is likely a power grab."
"So, the corruption continues! I hope that lawmakers are also looking at what this administration is doing and they(lawmakers) are doing everything possible to stop this madness from happening!" another post on X reads." This administration lies, CHEATS, and steals from the American people at every turn."
"Minnesota needs to tell them to f--- all of the way off," reads a comment on Bluesky.
"The final step of authoritarianism is to ensure all future elections are not free. This is where America is at," another comment on Bluesky reads.
