Minnesota Voters Alliance v. Hunt

Minnesota’s state constitution mandates that citizens convicted of felonies may not vote until they have been “restored to civil rights.” In 2023, the Minnesota legislature enacted HF 28, which provided that citizens with a felony conviction were allowed to vote upon release from prison, or to vote after conviction, if their sentence did not include incarceration. The bill also included provisions to ensure those eligible were notified by the Minnesota Secretary of State or prison officials of their right to vote. The legislature also passed HF 1830, which included a provision stating that citizens with felony convictions on work release were not considered incarcerated and therefore allowed to vote. The two bills’ relevant provisions will be called the “voting rights restoration” in this case summary.  

The Minnesota Voters Alliance, a self-proclaimed election integrity organization, and three-individual plaintiffs filed a lawsuit on June 28, 2023, in the Anoka County District Court, alleging HF 28 and HF 1830’s provisions allowing citizens with felony convictions on probation, work release, or supervised release were illegal. The plaintiffs asserted that “restoration to civil rights” meant full restoration of all civil rights was required for citizens with felony convictions to vote, meaning the legislature could not restore voting rights without restoring other civil rights lost by those Minnesotans convicted of a felony, such as rights to gun ownership and holding public office. The individual plaintiffs alleged taxpayer dollars were being unlawfully spent to restore voting rights for ineligible people. 

On December 13, 2023, the district court dismissed the case, ruling that the plaintiffs had no standing to challenge the laws at issue and that Minnesota Supreme Court precedent did not prevent the legislature from restoring voting rights to citizens with felony convictions without restoring other rights.  

The plaintiffs then appealed to the Minnesota Court of Appeals on December 20, 2023. The Minnesota Supreme Court took up the appeal on January 16, 2024, bypassing the court of appeals. On March 1, 2024, the League of Women Voters of Minnesota (“LWV Minnesota”) filed an amicus brief supporting the lower court’s rulings. The brief argued that the plaintiffs had failed to define an acceptable definition of “restored to civil rights” that would satisfy them; that striking down the voting rights restoration would disenfranchise thousands of voters and cast doubt on prior elections in which those voters had already voted; and disrupt the League’s work in voter registration and education on voting rights restoration, which had relied upon previous Minnesota Supreme Court precedent allowing the legislature to enact the voting rights restoration. 

On August 7, 2024, the Minnesota Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s ruling, stating that the plaintiffs lacked standing to challenge the law. 

The League was represented by Fredrickson & Byron, P.A. in this matter.