Minnesota's Voter Outreach Director went on Somali TV and walked viewers through how to vote in the state — telling them that if they are already registered, they do not need to bring anything with them at all: they just show up. The clip has been watched more than 720,000 times on its main post and is still climbing toward a million, and it has put Minnesota's voting rules at the centre of the election-integrity fight in the final days before the midterms.
Melanie Hazelip works in the office of Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon. In the interview she laid out both tracks plainly: registered voters bring nothing; anyone who is not registered can still register on the same day, with an updated Minnesota ID or with other documents listed on the office's website. The Secretary of State's office confirmed the appearance and said her remarks accurately reflected Minnesota law — the state does not ask registered voters to show ID at the polls. And to be exact about what this is and is not: no evidence has been produced that any ineligible person voted on the strength of this interview. The fight is over the rules she described.
Critics say the rules are the problem. Minnesota's 2023 Driver's Licenses for All law puts state IDs in the hands of non-citizens, and a system that waves registered voters through with nothing at all — and registers new voters the same day on a state ID and paperwork — is a system that runs on trust. In Washington, that argument has a name and a bill attached to it.
The SAVE America Act was written to close exactly this gap — documentary proof of citizenship before anyone is registered, and photo ID before anyone casts a ballot. The House passed it twice without a single Republican voting no: 220–208 in April 2025 and 218–213 this February. In the Senate it failed by inches, three times in 2026 — and each time, the same four Republican senators voted no alongside the Democrats: Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Thom Tillis of North Carolina. The count was 48–50 in April, 48–50 again in June, and 50–49 the next day, with three of the four holding out. The bill is still stalled in the Senate — and so on Tuesday, Minnesota votes under the rules its own outreach director described on television: registered, you bring nothing.
📰 ProfiloPolitics Member News — choose your news, share it, earn credit
Members choose the news they want — share it and earn credit.
📣 Join ProfiloPolitics on Telegram — breaking news first
Follow @profilopoliticsnews for every update on this story.