DFL officials say judge violated new law to restore voting rights

A rural Minnesota judge issued orders barring two individuals from voting in the fall election because they are on probation related to felony convictions, a move top DFL officials say violates a new state law that restores their voting rights as long as they're not incarcerated.

Attorney General Keith Ellison and Secretary of State Steve Simon, both Democrats, said in a joint statement on Tuesday they will oppose the orders, which they said the judge issued "without prompting."

"The orders have no statewide impact, and should not create fear, uncertainty, or doubt. In Minnesota, if you are over 18, a U.S. citizen, a resident of Minnesota for at least 20 days, and not currently incarcerated, you are eligible to vote. Period," they said in the statement. "It is critically important that everyone whose rights were restored understands that they are welcome in our democracy."

Judge Matthew Quinn, who is based in Mille Lacs County in central Minnesota, wrote in two orders issued last week that the new law is "unconstitutional" and the defendants are prohibited from "registering to vote, or voting, or attempting to vote."

"To do so is a criminal act which can be investigated, charged, and prosecuted in the normal course," his order continues. Quinn's office could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

Quinn ordered probation for April Weyaus and Emilio Trevino following sentencing hearings on Oct. 12. The order barring them from voting was issued as a supplement to his sentencing order.

On June 1, Minnesota joined 21 other states that allow people with a felony conviction to vote as soon as they are released from incarceration. Previously, they had to wait until they were off probation and had paid all fines connected to their conviction. People affected by the new law will have their first chance to vote in special elections and this fall's municipal races.

Democrats in control of the House and Senate, who have pushed for the change for two decades, acted quickly to pass the law earlier this year after the Minnesota Supreme Court ruled in February that the law didn't violate the state's Constitution. The court pointed out that the Legislature has the power to change the law.

But in two similar 15-page orders, Quinn argues that the new law violates the state and U.S. Constitutions and the court is "subservient to those constitutions, and not to an act of the legislature — let alone an unconstitutional act."

He continued that the court "has duty to independently evaluate the voting capacity of each felon at the time of their discharge from probation, and on subsequent occasions as needed or requested."

Quinn, appointed to the court by former DFL Gov. Mark Dayton in 2017, was issued a public reprimand from the Minnesota Board on Judicial Standards in 2021 for liking posts on Facebook endorsing candidates for office, as well as the official page for former President Donald Trump and numerous posts supporting his campaign. He was also tagged in photos participating in a Trump boat parade.

Ellison and Simon said the orders "issued by one judge in one of Minnesota's 87 counties, fly in the face of the Minnesota Supreme Court's ruling earlier this year that deferred the decision on voting rights to the legislature."