Legislative auditor Judy Randall discusses automatic voter registration with commission members

The Minnesota Legislative Audit Commission's Evaluation Subcommittee convened on April 4, 2025, to discuss the implementation of automatic voter registration (AVR) and its implications for state agencies. A key focus of the meeting was the collaboration between the Department of Public Safety (DPS) and the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS) in managing the AVR process.

Legislative Auditor Judy Randall emphasized the complexity of the AVR system, which involves multiple steps from registrars to the Secretary of State and ultimately to county offices for finalization. She cautioned against overwhelming the OSS, which is a smaller agency, by selecting both topics for review in the same year. Randall suggested a staggered approach to ensure that the workload is manageable and that reports can be effectively distributed across various committees.

The committee members discussed the possibility of refining the focus of their evaluations to avoid burdening the OSS while still addressing the critical aspects of the AVR process. Representative Quam and others expressed interest in clarifying the roles of DPS and OSS in the implementation of AVR, indicating a need for more accessible information for stakeholders.

The meeting concluded with a consensus on the importance of balancing the evaluation topics to ensure thorough oversight without overextending the resources of involved agencies. This approach aims to enhance the efficiency of the voter registration process while maintaining the integrity of the system. The subcommittee's next steps will involve further discussions on how to best structure these evaluations to support both DPS and OSS effectively.