Today, Minnesota Majority released a report of its findings on ineligible felons voting in the 2008 Minnesota General Election. Our research on felons voting began over a year ago and we believe the new report is the most comprehensive documentation of voter fraud by ineligible felons yet compiled for Minnesota.

On October 14^th, 2009, Ramsey County Attorney Susan Gaertner announced to the local press that her office had charged 23 felons for illegally voting or registering to vote, saying, “the numbers are very small.” But Minnesota Majority’s independent research revealed a much higher number of felon voters.

Using data obtained from the Minnesota Department of Corrections, Minnesota Majority found evidence that hundreds of ineligible felons may have voted the 2008 General Election. Evidence was submitted to the Hennepin and Ramsey County Attorneys on October 16^, 2009.

“I think people should be concerned that most of the instances of felon voter fraud would have never been detected had it not been for our independent research,” said Minnesota Majority’s president, Jeff Davis. “It begs the question of what other problems officials may be missing and how long these problems have gone undetected.

”The report points out that since there is a list of felons that can be compared to voter history files, checking for potential felon voters is a fairly straightforward process. Other forms of fraud are much more difficult to detect, however, such as individuals voting under an assumed identity. Minnesota Majority believes if officials are failing to detect, investigate and prosecute felon voters, they are probably missing other forms of voter fraud as well.

The report is critical of failures by election officials and law enforcement to prevent, detect and deter fraudulent voting by convicted felons. “The apparent unresponsiveness and stonewalling on the part of election and law enforcement officials creates the impression that they may be deliberately dragging their feet on the investigation and prosecution of election fraud in order to maintain the myth of Minnesota as a leader in clean, well-run elections. In reality, we have found Minnesota’s election integrity to be lacking in many aspects,” reads a portion of the report’s executive summary.  

The report concludes, “Failure to act now sends a signal to potential fraudulent voters that voter fraud is a safe way to influence elections because perpetrators in all likelihood will never be caught or prosecuted. Even those few who have been prosecuted received only a slap on the wrist: a small fine and part of a day in jail.”

Minnesota Majority is calling on election and law enforcement officials to make investigating and prosecuting voter fraud a priority to preserve public confidence in our elections.

We are running out of time to complete our research into other suspected problems arising from the 2008 election. In September (just two months away), the counties will begin destroying election records from 2008, as they are only retained for 22 months. Additionally, the statute of limitations on election crimes is two years and for the 2008 election, will expire in November. Instances of election crimes stemming from 2008 that aren't caught and prosecuted by then will slip into the shadows forever.

We're racing against the clock. To complete our work protecting election integrity in Minnesota, we need to raise $20,000 in just two weeks or our work on elections will come to a halt, unfinished. Just recently, we uncovered evidence that suggests ballot box stuffing in several precincts. More investigation into this apparent discrepancy is critically needed, in addition to our ongoing work to protect election integrity.

Take Action: Please make a secure online contribution toward election integrity today. Absentee voting for the 2010 election cycle already began on Friday and election records from 2008 will be destroyed in two months. No one else is doing this work. Please contribute to Minnesota Majority now to help ensure clean fair elections this year.

Read the Report on Fraudulent Votes Cast by Ineligible Felons in the 2008 General Election.

Channel 5 News coverage: Watchdog Group Says Felons Are Voting Illegally

UPDATE: See Fox News story "Felons Voting Illegally May Have Put Franken Over the Top in Minnesota"