Minnesota SoS Rejects Bondi’s ‘Ransom’ Request for Voter Data In Exchange For End to ‘Chaos’
Attorney General Pam Bondi is using the killing of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement as an opportunity to once again demand access to Minnesota’s voter rolls — all part of the Justice Department’s months-long crusade to try to force states to provide sensitive voter information.
In response to Bondi’s latest request for access to the state’s voter rolls, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon simply said “no,” describing the attempt to tie the request for voter data to ending the “chaos” in Minnesota as “an apparent ransom to pay for the peace and security of our state.”
In the letter to Democratic Gov. Tim Walz just hours after Pretti was killed Saturday by federal immigration agents, Bondi outlined ways Walz should “restore the rule of law” to Minnesota — somehow linking the state’s refusal to provide voter information to the DOJ to the recent killings of U.S. citizens protesting or observing federal immigration agents in Minnesota.
“You and your office must restore the rule of law, support ICE agents, and end the chaos in Minnesota. Fortunately, there are common-sense solutions to these problems that I hope we can achieve together,” Bondi wrote.
Bondi then outlined ways to end the “chaos,” one of which was to “allow the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division access to voter rolls to confirm that Minnesota’s voter registration practices comply with federal law, as authorized by the Civil Rights Act of 1960.”
For months now, the Justice Department has been demanding sensitive voter information from 44 states across the country. Although the DOJ is not entitled to this information – which includes information such as voters’ driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers and addresses – the DOJ pursues states that refuse to comply.
It’s unclear why the DOJ wants to obtain this data from states. But as experts previously explained to TPM, the DOJ’s request for voter information appears to be, in part, an attempt to sow doubt in the country’s electoral system.
“Bondi’s pressure on Minnesota to turn over sensitive and protected voter data, after two federal courts ruled that the DOJ had no rights to that data, raises serious questions about the supposed justifications for both the data requests and the federal government’s militarized deployment in the state,” David Becker, a former DOJ attorney and executive director and founder of the nonpartisan Center for Election Innovation and Research, told TPM.
So far, the DOJ has sued 24 states, including Minnesota, that have not complied with this request. And just this month, two different federal courts have ruled against the DOJ on this issue, including a tentative ruling in Oregon and a ruling in California.
Simon, the Minnesota secretary of state, immediately shut down Bondi’s requests for data.
“His letter is an outrageous attempt to coerce Minnesota into providing private data on millions of U.S. citizens to the federal government, in violation of state and federal law. This follows repeated and unsuccessful attempts by the Department of Justice to pressure my office to provide the same data,” he said.
And in a statement responding to Bondi’s letter, DNC Chairman Ken Martin described Bondi’s letter as an attempt “to extort the state into turning over its voter rolls as part of an ongoing campaign to undermine local elections and build a national database for Trump’s political revenge and retaliation.”
“The Trump administration thinks it can threaten and intimidate with violence and coercion, but it is wrong. The DNC will stand with local elected officials and fight like hell, including in court, to protect our democracy and the rights of voters in Minnesota and across the country,” Martin added.
