Representative says she obtained Hennepin County voter master list and accuses Secretary of State of restricting access

Representative Pam Oldendorf told the committee she recently obtained Hennepin County’s full voter master list and accused Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon of limiting what other counties may release to elected committee members. Oldendorf said the secretary redefined the 'master list' to three fields — name, address and birth date — and that 87 counties received a directive to release only that reduced set to external requests.

"It is by state statute that I, as a public official, am entitled to the voter roll information," Oldendorf said. She told the committee she has the file in her office and is not distributing it, but that the Star Tribune had characterized her findings as misinterpretation. Oldendorf criticized the state's media for ignoring the story and said she will continue to publish what she views as anomalies.

Oldendorf described apparent data anomalies she said she found in the Hennepin master list, including hundreds of voters listed as born in 1926 or earlier, multiple registrations tied to a single one-bedroom apartment, and possible duplicate records with slightly different birth dates. She acknowledged she had not completed a formal audit and members pressed her on whether other counties had supplied full lists; she said three counties she contacted delivered only three fields and one (Hennepin) provided the full master list.

Committee members asked whether the secretary's actions were illegal; Oldendorf said a legal case could follow and that she believes she is legally entitled to the full data under state statute. The committee did not take legal action at the meeting. No representative of the Secretary of State’s office was present to respond during the session.

Oldendorf said she plans to make the findings public and to continue pressing for transparency in elections administration; members said they would consider stakeholder input at later hearings.