Minnesota has joined a multistate consortium that will help provide more accurate voter registration officials at the polls.
As a new member of the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), officials say Minnesota will now compare Minnesota’s voter rolls to Minnesota’s driver’s license database, the Social Security Administration’s death information and other states’ voter rolls.
Also in the consortium are the District of Columbia, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Louisiana, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Virginia and Washington.
Officials say the new data will help update records for voters who moved in-state, and clean up clerical errors on voter registration records.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office will provide the new, updated information to counties, so voter registration officials can identify and eliminate duplicate, deceased and out-of-state voter records.
Under the new system, Minnesota also will mail postcards “to voting-age Minnesotans with driver’s licenses or state IDs, who, according to the computer match, do not appear to be registered to vote.” Look for those in the mail this week (although MinnPost readers surely are registered already, right?).
But, state officials say some registered voters may also get the postcards, if their driver’s license or state ID records do not match up exactly to an existing voter registration record. If you get a card, and believe you already are registered, you you can check the registration online at mnvotes.org. If the registration look-up tool confirms that you are registered at your current address, no further action is necessary. If the look-up does not confirm the registration, you can register online at mnvotes.org and correct any errors.
