Minnesota secretary requests $200,000 state match to unlock $1 million HAVA grant; reviews 2024 election outcomes and security work

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon asked the House Elections Finance and Government Operations Committee to approve a $200,000 state match so his office can draw down roughly $1 million in federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) election-security funds and described the office’s administration and security work during the 2024 election cycle.

The request matters because the HAVA funds are restricted to election security projects and require a 20% state match; Simon said the grant would sustain the office’s election-security navigator team and related cybersecurity and physical-security supports for county and local election administrators.

Simon told the committee the federal government’s latest election-security appropriation in 2024 totaled $55 million nationally, and Minnesota’s prorated share was “just about” $1 million; the required state match is about $200,000. “We asked for the committee’s support in this request to unlock all of that $1,000,000 in federal grant money,” Simon said. He described the funds as one-time federal dollars with a two-year timeline to provide the state match and submit a federal work plan and periodic reports to the Election Assistance Commission.

Simon and Elections Director Paul Linnell summarized the 2024 cycle and post-election work. Simon said Minnesota saw high turnout and “low drama,” noting unofficial totals of 3,272,414 ballots cast statewide—about 76.4% turnout—and that approximately 1.3 million Minnesotans, roughly 39% of voters, cast ballots before Election Day by mail or in-person…