Minnesota Supreme Court upholds law restoring voting rights to people with felony convictions

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld a 2023 state law that restores voting rights to felons after they complete their prison sentences.

The new law was popular among Democrats in the state, including Governor Tim Walz, who signed it and who is Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate in the presidential race. The timing of the decision is important because early voting for next week’s primary elections is already underway. Voting for the November 5th general elections starts on September 20th.

The court rejected a challenge from the conservative Minnesota Voters Alliance. A first instance judge had already thrown away the group sued after deciding it lacked legal standing to sue and failed to prove the Legislature overstepped its authority when it voted in favor expand voting rights for people who were previously incarcerated for a crime. The high court agreed.

Before the new law, felons had to complete probation before they could regain eligibility to vote. As a result, around 55,000 people with criminal records gained the right to vote.

Minnesota’s Democratic Attorney General Keith Ellison had been pushing for the change since he was in the Legislature.

“Democracy is not guaranteed – it is earned by protecting and expanding it,” Ellison said in a statement. “I am proud to restore voting as definitively the law of the land today, more than 20 years after I first proposed it as a state legislator. I encourage all Minnesotans who are eligible to vote to do so and to participate fully of our democracy.”

Minnesota was among more than a dozen states who considered restoring voting rights for criminals in recent years. Advocates for the change argued that disenfranchising disproportionately affects people of color due to biases in the legal system. An estimated 55,000 Minnesota residents regained their right to vote because of the change.

Nebraska authorities went the other way and decided last month that residents with felony convictions could still be denied the right to vote, despite a law passed this year to immediately restore voting rights to people who have finished serving their felony convictions. This decision by the Nebraska Attorney General and Secretary of State, both Republicans, was challenged in legal action.