Information requirements for public information lists modified.

A bill for an act

relating to elections; modifying information requirements for public information

lists; amending Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 201.091, subdivisions 4, 9.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 201.091, subdivision 4, is amended to read:

Subd. 4.

Public information lists.

(a) The county auditor shall make available for

inspection a public information list which must contain the name, address,
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year
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date
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of birth,

and voting history of each registered voter in the county. Data on applicants submitted

pursuant to section
201.061, subdivision 1b
, are not part of the public information list until

the voter is registered or has voting history. The list must not include the party choice of

any voter who voted in a presidential nomination primary. The telephone number must be

included on the list if provided by the voter. The public information list may also include

information on voting districts. The county auditor may adopt reasonable rules governing

access to the list.

(b) No individual inspecting the public information list shall tamper with or alter it in

any manner. No individual who inspects the public information list or who acquires a list

of registered voters prepared from the public information list may use any information

contained in the list for purposes unrelated to elections, political activities, or law

enforcement. The secretary of state may provide copies of the public information lists and

other information from the statewide registration system for uses related to elections, political

activities, or in response to a law enforcement inquiry from a public official concerning a

failure to comply with any criminal statute or any state or local tax statute.

(c) Before inspecting the public information list or obtaining a list of voters or other

information from the list, the individual shall provide identification to the public official

having custody of the public information list and shall state in writing that any information

obtained from the list will not be used for purposes unrelated to elections, political activities,

or law enforcement. Requests to examine or obtain information from the public information

lists or the statewide registration system must be made and processed in the manner provided

in the rules of the secretary of state.

(d) Upon receipt of a statement signed by the voter that withholding the voter's name

from the public information list is required for the safety of the voter or the voter's family,

the secretary of state and county auditor must withhold from the public information list the

name of a registered voter.

(e) Notwithstanding paragraphs (b) and (c) and regardless of the purpose of the

publication, a recipient of a public information list must not:

(1) publish any of the information from the list on the Internet on any list, database, or

other similar searchable format; or

(2) sell, loan, provide access to, or otherwise surrender any information obtained from

the list to any person or entity, except that an individual who obtains the public information

list on behalf of an organization, entity, or political subdivision may distribute the information

to the organization's, entity's, or political subdivision's volunteers or employees for purposes

related to elections, political activities, or law enforcement in the case where the information

is provided in response to a law enforcement inquiry from a public official concerning a

failure to comply with any criminal statute or any state or local tax statute. Nothing in this

section prohibits the preparation, use, or transfer, for purposes related to elections or political

activities, of a database that includes data obtained from the public information list which

is aggregated with data obtained from other sources provided that such database is used

exclusively for purposes related to elections or political activities and no information from

the list is published on the Internet. The prohibitions of this paragraph do not apply if the

subject of the information provides express written permission to use the subject's data in

a manner otherwise prohibited by this paragraph. For purposes of this paragraph, "publish"

means information is made available to the general public.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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Sec. 2.

Minnesota Statutes 2024, section 201.091, subdivision 9, is amended to read:

Subd. 9.

Restricted data.

A list provided for public inspection or purchase, or in response

to a law enforcement inquiry, must not include
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a voter's date of birth or
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any part of a voter's

Social Security number, driver's license number, identification card number, military

identification card number, or passport number.

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EFFECTIVE DATE.

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This section is effective the day following final enactment.

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