State Agencies

State agencies have the responsibility, under MN Statutes 201.162, to provide voter registration services for members of the public that they serve. To guide agencies in that regard, please see the following:

Policies

Nonpartisan voter registration assistance, including routinely asking members of the public served by the agency whether they would like to register to vote and, if necessary, assisting them in preparing the registration forms must be part of the job of appropriate agency employees.

It's expected that the agencies offer voter registration in every interaction they have with the general public: email correspondence, phone communication, counter service, or any other. 

The preferable method of voter registration is using the online voter registration application, but paper applications are available from the secretary of state's office. If an agency uses the paper forms, they may be mailed inter-office to the Secretary of State within ten days of being filled out by the voter. Contact the Secretary of State's office for more information. 

Resources

Agencies may feel free to display or make available the posters, election calendars, fact sheets, and other materials that the Secretary of State produces for voter outreach. Some of these are in stock at the Secretary of State's office, others may be downloaded / printed on demand. Some of the options available are at this page: Voter Outreach Materials. 

In addition, we recommend agencies add voter registration reminders to their digital communications with clients and constituents, such as:

• Link to online voter registration included in footer of email newsletter
• Link to online voter registration on agency or department webpage
• Reminders near important dates during the election year (primary election, registration deadline, etc.)
• Links to mnvotes.gov (Secretary of State's general voting information page) 
• Email or social media graphics for voter registration

Feedback

The voter outreach team is interested to know what is working and what needs improvement as we refine our recommendations to state agencies. Your feedback is always welcome, contact the office at secretary.state@state.mn.us