Election Watcher Files Federal Case Accusing Minnesota of Sharing Private Voter Information

Voters arrive at Bryn Mawr Community School on Election Day in Minneapolis, Minn., on Nov. 2, 2021 in a file photo. Stephen Maturen/Getty Images

A lawsuit has been filed against the Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, alleging the state’s practice of cleaning its voter’s roll by sharing citizens’ private information with a third party violates federal law, and although this case is limited to Minnesota, other states are doing the same thing.

Anyone who obtains a state driver’s license or identification card knows the state collects a lot of personal information in the licensing process.

The 1994 federal Drivers Privacy Protection Act (DPPA) restricts the disclosure and use of personal information found in state motor vehicle databases.

Yet since 2014, Minnesota has been giving this information to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) to maintain the state’s voter registration records. As part of the agreement, Minnesota promised to give ERIC the following information from everyone who gets a license: 1) name, 2) date of birth, 3) address, 4) driver’s license or state identification card number, 5) the last four digits of the Social Security number, 6) phone number, and 7) email address. This includes registered voters and people who are not registered to vote, plus minors ages 16 and 17 who are not yet old enough to vote, but who are, in Minnesota, allowed to preregister for voting.

Voter Registration Lists

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges that sharing data collected in the driver’s license process violates the DPPA.

The filing was announced Thursday, Oct. 12, in a press call with Attorney Erick Kaardal of the law firm Mohrman, Kaardal & Erickson on behalf of the Minnesota Association for Government Accountability, and individual Minnesota citizens, parents, minors, and state senators Mark Koran and Calvin Bahr.

The DPPA has 14 exceptions that allow for the disclosure of private driver data. For example, it could be shared if it’s for law enforcement purposes, for insurance purposes or if an individual specifically consents for their private driver data to be disclosed for use by something like the commercial retailer.

Another exception allows private driver data to be disclosed if it’s for use in a legally permitted government function.

ERIC uses the data to make lists of eligible but unregistered voters and requires the states it contracts with to use these lists to attempt to get them registered for voting. This, the plaintiffs argue, is the real purpose of ERIC, and it is not allowed.

Voter registration drives are political and not the role of the government.

“The U.S. Election Assistance Commission says this isn’t a government function.” Mr. Kaardal said. “The federal law states that that voter registration drives are a private function. It’s something that political parties, nonprofits, and campaigns do. So how is it that we’re using our private driver data in Minnesota for government-sponsored voter registration drives?”

Minnesota’s membership agreement with ERIC also allows ERIC to share the private driver data with ERIC’s agents, contractors, and subcontractors.

The plaintiffs are asking for the court to stop the Secretary of State from sharing their private data kept by driver vehicle services through either a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction while this litigation is pending.

The Minnesota Department of State does not comment on pending litigation, Press Secretary Cassondra Knudson told The Epoch Times.

The following states are members of ERIC and also share private driver’s license data with Eric: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

“We must execute our election activities in a nonpartisan manner, and we should never use our government resources—our data— to influence elections. This data, in many cases, is not available to the public, or other partisan entities for political or other purposes,” Mr. Koran said.

He mentioned a variety of legislation pending in Minnesota that could add to the number of citizens having personal data shared, including automatic voter registration for anyone who interacts with a Department of Public Safety for anything driver’s license or ID related. And anyone who interacts with the Department of Human Services would also have their information sent in, and they will be automatically enrolled in the statewide voter registration system.

“I think we should be very clear: Minnesota must be compliant with the DPPA protecting their privacy, private personally identifiable information, and we need to stop participating in ERIC because, I believe, Minnesota elections should not be for sale to private companies for partisan purposes,” Mr. Koran said.

Mr. Kaardal said election watchers have been complaining about ERIC’s use of driver data for years, but nothing has happened, and they need the help of the court to enforce the federal law.

“This is the biggest data privacy case ever because you have 300 million records involved,” Mr. Kaardal said. “I mean, ERIC has bragged that it has 300 million records, including driver data. It’s just an extraordinary breach of the Driver Privacy Protection Act, and people should be concerned.”