Anoka Times

A bill blocking political parties from collecting voters’ data unless those individuals voted for the party’s candidates was approved in the Minnesota House of Representatives.

The presidential primary privacy bill still needs state Senate approval before heading to Governor Tim Walz's desk for a final decision. The House advanced the legislation 72-55.

“Minnesotans should not be at risk of their party affiliations becoming public,” Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chairman Ken Martin said, according to The Center Square. 

The law would allow political parties to collect data to verify participation in the presidential primary. It also establishes penalties on individuals who misuse data collected, and allow voters to opt-out of having their data made available to respective political parties.

The DFL has claimed that voters are concerned about their party affiliation becoming public and decided not to vote in the 2020 presidential primary.

Current law allows qualified political parties such as the DFL, Republican, Legal Marijuana Now and Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis to access voters’ names and selected primary ballot. There are no restrictions on how a party can use that information, including posting it online or sell it to another organization.

The Republican Party, according to a Minnesota Public Radio report, has issues with the proposed changes that were made while early voting had already started.

Republican Party Chairwoman Jennifer Carnahan objected to claims that voters’ data would be misused.

“I just want to be very clear in stating the Republican Party of Minnesota has absolutely no interest in selling the data, sharing the data with anyone,” she told the Minnesota Public Radio in January. “We take data privacy and the privacy of our voters very seriously.”

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said on his website in February that there were fears with the current system that voting data could be used to “’out’ individuals, especially those who want to project fairness and objectivity in their professions.”