Democratic Governor Expands Mail-In Voting Protections In Another Defeat To GOP

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Another state is enacting a plan for automatic voter registration. This time, it’s Minnesota, where Democratic Governor Tim Walz signed an elections reform bill into law on Friday.

The system, as explained, would automatically register individuals to vote when they conduct other often necessary interactions with government agencies, and those whose information is handled accordingly would have the option to opt out, should they so choose. The system contrasts in stark terms with what Republicans controlling other states have pushed. In Texas, authorities even sought to implement requirements that physical copies of voter registration applications, featuring a so-called wet signature, be submitted alongside certain digital copies, adding arbitrary procedural hurdles. Other avenues of rhetorical attack on the process of registering to vote have included Republican attempts to put new ID requirements in place, pointlessly restricting disadvantaged voters who might not have the specific documents.

“At a time when democracy is being challenged, I just signed a bill establishing automatic voter registration, creating a permanent absentee voting status, and pre-registering 16- and 17-year-olds to vote,” Walz said on Twitter. “In Minnesota, voting isn’t a threat to power – it’s a source of pride.” The changes to absentee voting he mentioned would mean that voters seeking to exercise their right to cast a ballot through mail-in voting wouldn’t need to sign themselves up to receive a ballot over and over again. They’d instead be able to rely on their past registrations with authorities, eliminating other potentially restrictive procedural hurdles.

Reports from earlier this month noted a version of the bill passed by the House also provided support for resources around elections in languages besides English. Demonstrators gathered in enthusiastic support of the legislation inside the Minnesota Capitol in Saint Paul. Critically, Democrats currently control both state legislative chambers in Minnesota along with the governorship, marking this situation as another instance of the outcomes of elections — in this case, the 2022 midterms — having a large impact. Walz also recently signed protections for abortion and gender-affirming care into state law, formally enshrining restrictions on the state complying with any investigation or case in another jurisdiction over someone obtaining such healthcare in Minnesota. Other Democratic leaders have pursued the same sorts of protections.