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Resident raises concerns over petition data and Secretary of State registry
Summary
During public comment, resident Brian Paulson said using a daily snapshot of the Secretary of State registry to validate petition signatures can invalidate signatures and risks exposing restricted information such as full birthdates; he asked the council to avoid printing unredacted petition pages.
Brian Paulson, a resident who signed a petition, told the council he had consulted the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office and said officials search by name and birthday rather than relying on a daily registry snapshot used by some local processes.
Paulson said the state's registry updates daily and that a snapshot taken on a different day than when signatures were collected can lead to mismatches. He also warned that petition printouts containing full birthdates can disclose restricted personal information and encouraged staff to redact day/month information where required. “They don't use the registry. They just look at a name and the birthday,” Paulson said, describing the state's approach.
Staff noted the petition is a public record but acknowledged privacy concerns and the council recently adopted a data resolution; Paulson asked the city to consider how many paper copies are placed on public desks so as not to expose personal data unnecessarily.
Next steps: council did not take formal action but heard the comment as part of public invited to be heard.
