Minnesota could prohibit the intentional spread of false claims about elections with the intent to stop voters from casting ballots.
The Democracy for the People Act currently under discussion in the statehouse includes a provision outlining gross misdemeanor charges for knowingly spreading false information with the intent to impede or prevent others from voting starting up to 60 days before Election Day, reported the Minnesota Reformer.
The crime would be punishable by up to a year in jail and a $3,000 fine.
The bill is aimed at dirty tactics often used to suppress voting, usually in Black neighborhoods, by circulating false information about “time, place or manner of holding an election,” as well as phony claims about voter eligibility and threats to physical safety associated with voting, and proponents believe the threshold for proving the crime is high enough to survive a First Amendment challenge.
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“In America, everyone has a right to be wrong,” said secretary of state Steve Simon, who supports the bill.
Simon said prosecutors would have to prove a person had an intent to stop someone else from voting, which is why he doesn't believe Donald Trump or MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell could be held criminally liable for their claims about election machines being untrustworthy.
“I think that would be a very hard sell,” Simon said. “I think it’d be very, very difficult.”
The bill's author, state Rep. Emma Greenman, said the measure was primarily intended to protect voters from intimidation and harassment and not aimed at criminalizing the "broader swirl of disinformation" around U.S. elections.
“We are very clear that the First Amendment allows people to say all sorts of stuff that is not true," said Greenman, who is a national voting rights attorney.
