Protect election workers and expand our democracy

Opinion editor's note: Editorials represent the opinions of the Star Tribune Editorial Board, which operates independently from the newsroom.

•••

As voting-related bills are debated at the State Capitol, legislators should approach the process with an overriding objective: Will new legislation increase election participation and citizens' stake in our democracy?

While the final versions of the bills are still being discussed, the overall objectives as presented this week by Secretary of State Steve Simon appear reasonable and seem to match the sentiments of the majority of Minnesotans who voted last November to not just defend our democracy, but expand it.

"Voters spoke clearly," Simon told an editorial writer. "They gave us some pretty clear direction that they wanted us to build on Minnesota's success story when it comes to democracy and voting. And the blend that has worked for us in Minnesota over the years and decades is to prize access for everyday voters as a priority but to also make sure that we have security in place that will give voters confidence in the system."

By design, Simon said, the priorities are "nonpartisan in origin and nonpartisan in effect" and have been "adopted, in many cases widely, by states of different political complexions."

So, for instance, it isn't a red- or blue-state idea to move from an opt-in to opt-out system of automatic voter registration when eligible voters interact with state agencies, such as when they renew a driver's license. Doing so might add up to 450,000 voter registrations each year, Simon estimated, while greatly reducing the number of voter registrations at the polls on Election Day, a shift Simon said would make voter rolls even cleaner. A clear security firewall already exists to keep noncitizens from registering to vote, Simon added.

The secretary of state would also like a separate process to allow preregistration for 16- and 17-year-olds that would then have them enrolled at their 18th birthday. "If they vote in that first election, when they're eligible, they are much more likely to make it a lifelong habit, and that's a good thing; we should all want that," Simon rightly said.

We should also all want every eligible citizen to have a stake in our collective civic life. Which is why added to the list of priorities is a restoration of rights for felons who have completed their incarceration. This would add about 66,000 voters to Minnesota's roll in an act that Simon characterized as "a matter of fairness and justice, making sure that people who have left prison behind, have done their time, can be reintegrated into society." Doing so "isn't just an act of goodwill or an act of charity, this is in all of our interests. Because we know reliably that formerly incarcerated people are far less likely to reoffend if they feel some sense of ownership or investment in the community."

Other provisions include state reimbursement of local governments for the costs of presidential nominating primaries — by definition partisan political events for which municipalities and counties bear the expense. Simon also advocates for removing restrictions from Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds, which his office suggests would expand the use of federal funds to help administer elections.

Most important among the priorities is one every Minnesotan of every political persuasion should back: enhancing election-worker protection. About 30,000 Minnesotans volunteer to conduct our elections, and they should not be subjected to intimidation or threats that are unfortunately multiplying in our deeply divided society. Simon suggested that this is in no way meant to suppress anyone's First Amendment right "to be mad or upset or suspicious or skeptical" about elections or politics, but to protect our neighbors from the more menacing manifestations of the anger stalking our state and our nation.

Minnesota's often nation-leading voter participation owes much to another long-honored legislative tradition: bipartisan buy-in on voting and election legislation. Simon is a member of the DFL, as are majorities in both chambers of the Minnesota Legislature and Gov. Tim Walz. The secretary said he is in the process of meeting with every member in both chambers from both parties on the relevant committees considering the legislation.

That's to his credit, and Republican representatives and senators should be open to considering these proposals that Simon said have "no partisan effect" because "they don't come from a partisan place."

Republicans shouldn't reflexively react on a partisan basis to good-faith efforts to get more Minnesotans to vote. Rather, they should engage with the debate, improve upon the objectives and coalesce around efforts to expand and enhance participation in elections, the DNA of our democracy.