S.F. No. 2401 authorizes the Secretary of State to enter into an agreement with other states to share data on individuals for purposes of voter registration.  This legislation would allow (but not require) Minnesota to join the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) or other similar entities that allow states to share voter data for voter registration purposes.

Section 1 requires the Commissioner of Public Safety to disclose personal information in its possession to the Secretary of State for the purposes of increasing voter registration and improving the accuracy of registration records.

Section 2, paragraph (a) requires the Secretary of State to periodically obtain a lists of individuals from the Department of Public Safety that include individuals who have applied for a new driver’s license or state identification card with a different address or whose driver’s license or state identification card has been cancelled because of moving out of the state.  Information from these lists must not be loaded into the statewide voter registration system within 47 days before or after the election.

Paragraph (b) states that when the Secretary of State receives notice of a change of residence within Minnesota but is unable to determine the precinct where the voter now lives, the Secretary of State may forward the address information to the county auditor for further review.

No changes are made in paragraph (c). Paragraph (d) allows the Secretary of State to enter into an agreement with other states to share information in order to maintain voter registration records.  Before the Secretary of State may enter into the agreement, the Secretary of State must determine that the data security protocol is sufficient to keep safeguard data that is shared.  The Secretary of State may share private data on individuals.  The Secretary of State and county auditors must process changes to voter records based on the shared data is receives.  When the Secretary of State receives data from other states, it maintains the same data classification that it had in the original state.

Section 3 provides for an appropriation to carry out the provisions of the act.

Background.  The Electronic Registration Information Center is a non-profit organization that aims to assist states in improving the accuracy of voter registration records and to increase access to voter registration for eligible voters.  ERIC was started in 2012.  No state is required to join ERIC.  Currently, the following states are members of ERIC:  Colorado, Delaware, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Washington D.C.  For more information on ERIC, visit http://www.ericstates.org/.

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