Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer
A Trump-appointed federal judge has tossed out a lawsuit seeking to overturn a new Minnesota law making it illegal to knowingly spread false information about voting prior to an election.
The suit, filed by the conservative group Minnesota Voters Alliance, argued that the new law is unconstitutional because it could open people up to prosecution for stating sincerely held false beliefs, like “felons do not have the right to vote.” The legislation was a target of conservative ire even before it passed.
The group claimed that the law “subjects anyone who expresses controversial views about Minnesota election laws to criminal prosecution, civil litigation from any member of the public, and even prior restraint on their speech.”
But U.S. District Judge Nancy Brasel was unpersuaded. Brasel noted that the law allows for false statements to be prosecuted only if two conditions are met: the person making them knows they are false, and the statements are made with the intent to impede somebody from voting.
Tactics like that have been employed to suppress the vote in certain communities, particularly Black and immigrant ones. The law seeks to prevent dirty tricks like leafleting a neighborhood with a false claim that anyone with a felony conviction can be prosecuted for voting.
The bill does not prevent people from expressing opinions about elections: It only covers knowingly false statements about who can vote, and how. The law “does not reach political speech about the contents of the ballot; it merely reaches speech about where, when, and who can vote,” Brasel wrote.
The ruling marks the second unsuccessful legal challenge brought by the Minnesota Voters Alliance against last year’s DFL-supported expansions of voting rights.
The group also sought to reimpose limits on voting by convicted felons, resting their case primarily on a grammatical quibble over the meaning of a singular “civil right” versus plural “civil rights.” The state Supreme Court rejected that challenge, ultimately finding that the group lacked standing to bring the case.
Gov. Tim Walz has long been a proponent of expanding voting rights, saying in 2023 that “Minnesota consistently leads the nation in voter turnout, and we plan to keep it that way.” The issue is one of several that raised his national profile in the run-up to his selection as Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate.