Minnesota’s voter rolls are largely in good shape, but some county offices are getting a public nudge to tighten things up before the next big election. A new state audit says counties were highly accurate when it came to verifying who people are, yet sometimes tripped over deadlines and paperwork on registrations that landed close to Election Day.
Auditors described the state’s identity checks as nearly flawless, but warned that late processing and incomplete documentation in certain manual reviews could cause headaches if left unfixed. The report lands as counties and lawmakers debate whether recent election law changes have loaded too much work onto local election staff.
What the report found
In its review, the Office of the Legislative Auditor reported that 96% of voter registration applications in 2024 were handled within the deadlines set in law. The problem spots tended to show up when applications arrived within 20 days of an election, when the rush is on and late processing was more common.
Counties verified applicant identities correctly for 99.9% of registrations and got voter status assignments right in 98% of manual cases, according to the audit. The caveat: when county staff had to check residency manually, more than one-third of those files were missing documentation or contained decisions that were not clearly explained.
The report also found that in cases where a voter’s rights were restored, counties sent the required notices within 10 days 84% of the time. Auditors said that level of compliance needs to be stronger, especially in a state that regularly touts its high voter participation.
Counties point to new laws and heavier workloads
County election officials told auditors that a wave of new registration options and multiple election bills passed in 2023 and 2024 have piled on extra work and complicated day-to-day processing, according to FOX 9. They said the changes have stretched existing staff and made it harder to keep every step perfectly on schedule.
Cory Kampf, president of the Minnesota Association of County Officers, wrote that “where the OLA has found that improvements can and should be made, we generally agree,” while urging lawmakers to consider whether recent laws have effectively left county election offices understaffed for the workload they now face.
County leaders also told auditors they lean heavily on guidance from the Office of the Secretary of State, but that pre-election surges in registration volume can cause some steps in the Statewide Voter Registration System, or SVRS, to be left unfinished.
Secretary of State responds
Secretary of State Steve Simon, in a letter dated July 6, said his office “appreciates the significant work that went into preparing this report” and described Minnesota as “proud of its accurate, fair, secure, accessible, and trusted elections system,” FOX 9 reported.
Simon also noted that state law does not give the Office of the Secretary of State power to enforce how counties carry out voter registration requirements. That means any fixes flagged in the audit will depend on updated guidance, cooperation from local officials, and potential legislative changes rather than direct enforcement from his agency.
Recommendations and what’s next
The audit urges counties to make sure every application is processed on time, to follow Secretary of State guidance when residency notices are returned, and to fully record actions in SVRS so that post-election reports accurately reflect what happened, according to the summary from the Office of the Legislative Auditor.
Auditors also recommended that lawmakers look at aligning differing federal, state, and OSS standards for when a voter record should be marked inactive. They further called for continued investment in modernizing SVRS so that fewer registrations require manual review, which is where many of the documentation issues turned up.
The Legislative Audit Commission received the report on Wednesday and scheduled a public presentation where auditors and state election officials will walk through the findings and discuss how to address them.
How to check your registration
Minnesotans who want to see where their own registration stands can use the Secretary of State’s online tools or contact their county auditor’s office to confirm their information and make updates before key deadlines hit. The Secretary of State’s voter registration pages provide lookup tools and contact details for local election offices.
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