An Anoka County judge has dismissed a lawsuit challenging the state’s faster restoration of voting rights to Minnesotans convicted of felonies.
Judge Thomas Lehmann’s 11-page order on Wednesday dismissed the case on several grounds. It was an attempt to overturn a new law passed this year that allowed some previously ineligible voters to cast ballots in local elections.
In February, the DFL-led legislature accelerated the restoration of voting rights. People with felony convictions were allowed to vote as long as they were not incarcerated. Before the change, they also had to complete supervised release and probation.
The Minnesota Voters Alliance, a conservative group, argued that the Minnesota Constitution requires people convicted of felonies to serve all parts of their sentences before their civil rights – including the right to vote – are restored.
Voting rights advocates said the lawsuit was an attempt to sow confusion among the newly enfranchised.
Lehmann ruled that the plaintiffs did not have legal standing to sue and had failed to prove that lawmakers had acted outside their authority.
“The central premise of this argument is fundamentally flawed,” the judge wrote in his order. He cited a 2023 Minnesota Supreme Court ruling that left it up to the legislature to decide when to renew voting rights.
The Voters Alliance plans to appeal. A lawyer for the group, James Dickey, said it would try to skip an appeals court along the way.
“We are disappointed in the court’s decision, but we intend to appeal as soon as possible and seek expedited review by the Minnesota Supreme Court,” said UMLC Senior Counsel James Dickey. “We believe this is an important question of constitutional interpretation, and the people of Minnesota deserve to know what their constitution means before the 2024 election.”
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he was pleased the effort had been rejected.
“I am extremely pleased that yet another effort to undermine the voting rights of Minnesotans has been soundly rejected,” he said in a statement. “The Legislature has the ability to decide when to restore voting rights to Minnesotans, and today’s ruling reaffirms that right and upholds the constitutionality of the Restore the Vote Act.”
Barring a successful appeal, the law would be firmly in place for the 2024 elections, when the presidency, a US Senate seat, all 134 state House seats and more will be at stake.