MN Let People Vote Coalition 

Background:

Under the Minnesota state constitution, a person convicted of a felony loses their right to vote
until all the terms of their sentence have been met. This has been interpreted to mean until a
person has completed probation or parole as well as any prison sentence. Minnesota has some
of the longest parole periods in the country, sometimes lasting decades. As a result, there are
over 50,000 people living, working and paying taxes in our communities who do not have the
right to vote.
In addition, there is no process for notifying people when their right to vote has been restored,
so many eligible Minnesota voters mistakenly believe they still do not have the right to vote.
Felony disenfranchisement laws are firmly rooted in the Jim Crow era and were intended to bar
minorities from voting. The intended effects of these laws continue today: nationwide 2 million
African-Americans are disenfranchised. Allowing people to vote after release from prison
encourages participation in civil life and helps rebuild ties to the community that motivate law-
abiding behavior. Restoring voting rights to people out of prison eliminates the opportunity for
erroneous purges of eligible citizens from the voting rolls and relieves confusion among election
officials and the public about who is eligible to vote.

What’s happening now:
In the 2019 Minnesota legislative session there is some hope of passing a Restore the Vote bill.
House Subcommittee on Elections approved HF40, sponsored by Rep. Raymond Dehn (DFL-
Mpls), that proposes to amend state statute to stipulate that a felon’s voting rights are only lost
during their period of incarceration. The proposal, now headed to the House Government
Operations Committee, is modeled, he said, on legislation originally introduced by Attorney
General Keith Ellison in 2006 when he was a member of the Minnesota House.
A companion, SF856 sponsored by Sen. Bobby Joe Champion (DFL-Mpls), has been referred to
the Senate Judiciary and Public Safety Finance and Policy Committee. Leaders in the
Republican-controlled Senate have not expressed interest in advancing the effort.
Groups working on this issue:

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•  Restore the Vote Coalition

•  Second Chance Coalition

•  ACLU-MN

•  League of Women Voters St. Paul

•  MN Let People Vote Coalition