In a major win for Minnesota voters, the Minnesota Voting Rights Act (MNVRA) — landmark pro-voter legislation that will strengthen Minnesotans’ freedom to vote — has passed the state legislature and is headed Governor Tim Walz’s desk for his signature.
The MNVRA provides Minnesotans — particularly Black, Indigenous and other Minnesotans of color — with necessary protections against racial discrimination in voting. This common-sense, pro-voter legislation solidifies and expands upon the federal Voting Rights Act (VRA), helping ensure that Minnesotans of color can continue to make their voices heard at the ballot box and elect representatives of their choice.
Specifically, among other features, the MNVRA provides Minnesota voters with a “private right-of-action” in state law to sue against racially discriminatory voting policies, protects voters from voter suppression and vote dilution, makes it easier for voters experiencing discrimination to fight back in court and through collaborative non-court processes, and requires courts to interpret all election-related laws in favor of voters and their equal right to participate in the political process.
Taken together, those provisions mark major steps toward a more equitable Minnesota government where every voice is heard and every vote counts equally.
Upon enacting the MNVRA, Minnesota will become the seventh state to adopt a state-level Voting Rights Act (state VRA) — the latest in the trend of states stepping in to protect the freedom to vote.
This movement to adopt state VRAs has picked up steam in the decade following 2013’s disastrous Shelby County v. Holder ruling that gutted the federal Voting Rights Act. In that time, we have seen federal courts continue to chip away at voting rights and a gridlocked Congress doing little to stem the tide.
Tired of federal inaction and continued setbacks, states are taking matters into their own hands to protect the freedom to vote.
State VRAs can help fill gaps in voter access and bring us toward a democracy in which all voters, particularly voters of color, have an equal voice. Furthermore, state VRAs allow states to go above and beyond the floor set by the federal VRA to protect and serve their voters. For example, the Virginia VRA criminalizes voter intimidation, and the New York VRA expands language access for voters with limited English proficiency.
Campaign Legal Center is active in directly advocating for and providing state partners with legal and policy support to help state VRAs get passed in state legislative chambers — including in Minnesota.
Learn more about state VRAs here.
Read the MNVRA (scroll to line 54.1) here.