Republican lawmakers push bill to protect voter party privacy in primaries
An early voter slips her ballot into an envelop on Friday. She is among the first to cast her vote for in Minnesota's 2020 primaries. (FOX 9)
ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - With early voting already underway for next month’s presidential primary, some Minnesota House Republicans are pitching a bill to make sure no one knows what party ballot you choose.
They say it is about data privacy and voter confidence.
In a state that prides itself on both high voter participation and protecting personal data, a handful of House Republicans say the state’s primary election law needs to change. In an era of hyperpartisan politics, state Representative Peggy Scott says she has heard from voters concerned about the state recording and disclosing their party preference.
She says small business owners, in particular, are worried about losing customers if their affiliation was disclosed and used against them.
"How, when, and where you vote will remain the same, the only difference is the government will not record your political party preference," said Rep. Scott.
Earlier this month, Democratic Party Leader Ken Martin said he does not want a party registration system either, but the national party requires ballot preference data to seat delegates at the national convention.
"We do not need this data," said Martin. 'We do not want this data. The only reason I have to have it is so I’m in compliance with my national party rules."
However, one House Republican believes both state parties are wrong.
"It is a falsehood that both political party leaders will repeat and it's 100 percent not true," argued Rep. Pat Garofalo.
Still, Representative Scott wants to introduce her bill during the first week of the session and get it passed by the March 3 primary.
"I want to make that abundantly clear hear that the major reason for bringing this forth is that the public is saying we don’t want our data out there on this particular issue, and that’s why we’re doing this today," Scott said.
However, a key Republican lawmaker in the Senate is against this bill. State Senator Mary Kiffmeyer says early voting is already underway and she believes the state cannot change the rules now.