MINNESOTA OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE

KEY FACTS & 30-60-90 DAY PRIORITIES FOR INCOMING 23RD SECRETARY OF STATE

First Monday of January 2027

TRANSFORMATIONAL VISION: FROM CONTINUITY TO RECONSTRUCTABILITY

Current State vs. Future State

CURRENT PROBLEM: The Minnesota Secretary of State's office prioritizes continuity—keeping elections running smoothly, meeting deadlines, maintaining dashboards green, and ensuring workflows complete. While administratively sound, this creates a reconstruction burden where ordinary citizens cannot afford the cost of understanding what actually happened in their elections.

Authority has shifted from verification (citizens can confirm results) to continuity (systems keep running). When the effort to reconcile declared authority with operational reality exceeds ordinary human capacity, citizens stop attempting reconstruction.

PROPOSED FUTURE STATE: The Office of the Secretary of State's main elections function becomes providing resources, assistance, and creative help to counties, municipalities, and school districts to thoroughly audit and reconstruct their elections. This represents the greatest impact to overall confidence in Minnesota's governance by providing verification of key election steps at the most local level.

When town clerks, city election officials, and county election managers work together to show the people, each and every election, that their process was not only within the rules but truly legible and reconstructable, then a foundation of competent auditing skillset and mindset will be birthed, bottom-up.

KEY PRINCIPLES FOR ELECTION RECONSTRUCTABILITY

ELECTRONIC SYSTEMS AS BACKUP, NOT PRIMARY

Side-by-Side Approach:

• Paper rosters serve as the primary record of voter participation
• Hand counting serves as the primary method of tabulation
• Electronic systems operate in parallel as backup/redundancy
• Discrepancies trigger automatic recounts and investigation

This ensures that if electronic systems fail, are compromised, or produce questionable results, the paper trail remains authoritative and reconstructable by ordinary citizens.

FIRST 30-60-90 DAYS PRIORITIES

Immediate (30 Days) — Foundation for Reconstruction

Staff Assessment & Leadership Alignment:

• Review the ~100 current staff members and key positions
• Appoint or retain Elections Director committed to reconstructability principles
• Identify staff with auditing, paper-based systems, and citizen engagement experience
• Begin cultural shift from continuity-focused to verification-focused mindset

Policy & Procedure Review:

• Audit current election procedures for reconstruction barriers
• Identify statutory requirements that prevent paper-first approaches
• Map all electronic systems and their dependencies
• Document current chain of custody for ballots and records

Stakeholder Engagement:

• Meet with county election officials to assess current reconstruction capacity
• Host listening sessions with citizen observers and election integrity advocates
• Contact town clerks and city election officials about local audit challenges
• Establish working group on election reconstructability

Constitutional Duties:

• Begin fulfilling role as keeper of the Great Seal and chief election officer
• Review all current certifications for reconstructability gaps
• Issue preliminary guidance on paper-first election practices

Medium Term (60 Days) — Structural Changes

Technology Assessment & Parallel Systems:

• Review all election systems for reconstruction capability
• Pilot paper roster systems in willing counties
• Assess feasibility of hand-counting infrastructure at local levels
• Design side-by-side electronic backup systems that don't override paper

Policy Implementation:

• Develop new initiatives within existing statutory framework
• Propose rule changes to enable paper-first verification
• Create templates for local audit procedures
• Establish minimum reconstructability standards for counties

Legislative Coordination:

• If Legislature is in session, coordinate on bills enabling paper rosters
• Propose amendments to reduce reconstruction barriers
• Work on statutory changes for mandatory hand-count samples
• Advocate for funding for audit infrastructure

Training & Capacity Building:

• Launch training program for county officials on reconstruction methods
• Develop citizen observer certification program
• Create open-source audit tools and documentation
• Establish regional audit hubs for cross-county support

Long Term (90 Days) — Strategic Vision

Strategic Planning:

• Develop 4-year vision for election reconstructability across Minnesota
• Set measurable goals for citizen verification capacity
• Create roadmap for reducing reconstruction burden by 50%
• Establish timeline for paper-first implementation in all counties

Budget Preparation:

• Prepare biennial budget request emphasizing audit infrastructure
• Propose allocation of business filing fees toward election reconstruction
• Request funding for paper roster systems and hand-count equipment
• Seek grants for citizen education and audit training

Partnership Development:

• Strengthen relationships with constitutional officers (State Auditor, Attorney General)
• Build coalition with counties committed to reconstructability
• Partner with universities for independent election research
• Engage civic organizations in verification programs

Federal Compliance & Innovation:

• Ensure compliance with HAVA while advancing reconstruction
• Apply for federal election security grants with audit components
• Document Minnesota model for other states to adopt
• Publish annual reconstructability report card for all counties

BUDGET AUTHORITY & RECONSTRUCTION INVESTMENT

Current Revenue Stream

• $22 million in business filing fees goes to General Fund each biennium
• Secretary of State cannot directly control but can advocate for appropriation

Proposed Election Reconstruction Investment (2027-2029 Biennium)

Strategic Funding Approach

• Link investments to demonstrated revenue stream from business services
• Use state funds to match federal election security grants
• Propose modest fee increases to fund specific election reconstruction initiatives
• Request direct appropriation for voting operations, technology, and election resources account

CONSTRAINTS & LIMITATIONS

What Can Be Changed

• Leadership appointments — Elections Director, division heads, key managers
• Policy priorities — Within existing statutory framework
• Resource allocation — Through budget requests and internal prioritization
• Cultural direction — Shift from continuity to reconstruction mindset

What Requires Legislative Action

• Statutory changes — Paper roster mandates, hand-count requirements
• Major reorganization — Division restructuring, position creation
• Budget appropriations — General Fund allocations for reconstruction
• Fee structure changes — Modifying business filing fee allocations

Civil Service Protections

• Most operational staff protected by civil service rules
• Cannot fire for political reasons; must follow due process
• Focus on leadership appointments and cultural change rather than mass staff turnover
• Use performance management tools for documented issues

MEASURABLE OUTCOMES FOR 2027-2028 ELECTION CYCLE

CONTACT INFORMATION & TRANSITION RESOURCES

Office of the Secretary of State

• General Office: secretary.state@state.mn.us, (651) 201-1324
• Elections Department: elections.dept@state.mn.us, (651) 215-1440
• Business Services: business.services@state.mn.us, (651) 296-2803

Transition Timeline

• Election Day: November 2026
• Takes Office: First Monday of January 2027
• First 30 Days: Assessment and alignment
• First 60 Days: Structural changes begin
• First 90 Days: Strategic vision established

PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATION

"Authority no longer depends primarily upon verification. It depends upon continuity. And once continuity becomes the dominant source of practical legitimacy, reconstruction begins to look optional rather than essential."

This transition recognizes that verifiability depends upon observability, observability depends upon reconstruction, and reconstruction depends upon citizens being able to afford the cost of understanding what their institutions are actually doing.

When the constitutional chain strains because the cost of reconstruction exceeds what ordinary people can realistically afford, authority may continue to function, but verifiability begins to fail.

The goal: Restore the balance so that ordinary citizens can verify their elections without requiring specialized expertise, legal knowledge, or excessive time investment.

"If we can create reconstructable elections, then we can fix Minnesota."

Document prepared for 23rd Secretary of State transition.

All recommendations based on election integrity research, citizen advocacy work 2021-2026, and Martin Geddes reconstruction framework.