SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party Chairman Ken Martin announced his support for a legislative effort, led by Secretary of State Steve Simon and supported by a bi-partisan group of lawmakers, to protect party affiliation data collected during the Minnesota presidential primary.
“The Minnesota DFL strongly supports bi-partisan efforts to protect the privacy of Minnesotans voting in our presidential primary,” said DFL Chairman Ken Martin. “Here in Minnesota, we do not require voters to register with a particular political party, and we share the concerns of the Minnesotans who feel that widespread access to the party affiliation data collected during the primary is both a violation of their privacy and will act as a de facto party registration system.”
“The National Democratic and Republican Parties require records of who participates in their respective primaries solely for the purpose of certifying that partisan interference did not occur during those primaries,” said Martin. “However, it is possible to both comply with these requirements and prevent both parties from using the primary data for any other purposes. We urge the legislature to take swift action at the start of the legislative session in order to protect the privacy of Minnesota voters.” Continue reading “Minnesota DFL Announces Support for Changes to MN Primary Law to Protect Voter Privacy and Data”