The midterm election is just days away. And Sahan Journal wants to help you prepare to vote.
For many Minnesota voters, especially people from immigrant communities, this election season has been an anxious one. For months on end, the Trump administration has raised unsubstantiated allegations of widespread illegal voting, while filing legal challenges to voting by mail. The threats and rhetoric have left many Minnesotans wondering if federal authorities may try to interfere on Election Day or during the vote-counting process.
These concerns are not new for Minnesotans. Since Operation Metro Surge, democracy organizations have been building community networks to counter federal threats and help communities to vote.
On Thursday, Oct. 15, Sahan hosted “Vote Without Fear,” a live community conversation about how to protect your vote and how the midterms got so weird. Sahan invited a panel of guests who’ve been preparing to help voters cast their ballots safety and smoothly.
The panelists gathered at SPNN’s studios, on the west side of St. Paul, and fielded questions from Sahan reporters Mohmaed Ibrahim and Joey Peters – along with a live audience.
They included,
- Steve Simon, Minnesota Secretary of State
- Habon Abdulle, executive director of Ayada Leads, a civic engagement and leadership organization for women of color
- Jose Alvillar, lead immigration organizer at Unidos MN, a grassroots organization for working families
Facts not fear
During this midterm election season, the Trump administration has spun out constant claims about voter fraud and illegal activity in Minnesota’s elections.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon made it clear that these allegations were false.
“In Minnesota, we have a system that is fundamentally fair, accurate, honest, and secure,” Sec. Simon said. “Very occasionally, someone will do something wrong. And we’re fortunate that it is very occasional. The numbers are truly microscopic.”
Recently, the U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche announced charges against 10 Minnesotans for voting as non-citizens. These included immigrants from Lithuania, Germany, Bosnia, Liberia, Canada, and Ghana.
The Trump administration pointed to these charges as evidence of widespread voter fraud in Minnesota.
Simon addressed those cases: “I would tell you that our office assisted the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Justice Department. We provided evidence and data and information that led to those charges. But I think it’s important for us to put those things into proper perspective. Even if all 10 of those people are ultimately convicted, that’s 10 people out of 8.5 million who voted in those elections. And I did the math. That means our accuracy level and our honesty level is 99.9999%. That’s four nines after the decimal point.”
Throughout the conversation, Simon reinforced that Minnesota’s election system is secure.
“Our system is very well-functioning, very clean because we have procedures before, during, and after our elections that make it so,” Simon said.
Can ICE or other law enforcement be at the polls?
Many immigrant communities are fearful of voting out of fears that ICE may be present at the polls. Community members worry that they may be detained, arrested or even deported.
While conducting outreach work, Jose Alvillar and Habon Abdulle both heard these concerns from immigrant communities.
Yet, according to Simon, ICE “can’t be at the polling places.”
How about other law enforcement agencies?
“Law enforcement is only entitled to be at a polling place if expressly invited in there by the poll workers, by the election judges,” said Simon. “So, if there’s a fist fight that breaks out or there’s a medical episode or someone’s interfering, they can call the police, they can call the sheriff’s office. But unless and until they are summoned and invited in there, law enforcement is not allowed in the polling place.”
Can DOJ representatives be at the polls?
During the August primaries, local voters saw the federal Department of Justice send officials to Minnesota to monitor the elections. This presence has caused fear in communities over federal election interference. But on stage, Simon emphasized that the presence of DOJ offciials is normal and dates back to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Usually Department of Justice observers make sure local elections prohibit discrimination, such as ensuring voting information is available in multiple languages.
The Secretary of State’s Office collaborated with the Attorney General’s Office to ensure the observers followed the law.
“We teamed up with the attorney general’s office to create a program where we observed the observers,” Simon said. “We sent teams out to watch the observer, to make sure that they were behaving themselves and complying with the law. And I need to be fair here: They were.”
Simon continued, “They stood outside of the 100-foot zone of polling places. Once or twice they had to be asked to move a little bit because they were a little too close. And they did.”
The DOJ plans to dispatch 1,000 observers nationally during the midterm elections. And Minnesota is on the list of states where officials will be present.
Can federal agents seize or challenge ballots?
Usually, there would be no question of federal officials trying to seize ballots or voting equipment. But this year could prove more complicated.
“I can envision a scenario where maybe there would be an allegation of wrongdoing and there’s the possibility that they could get a judge to sign off on a warrant,” Simon said. “But that would have to be something very specific.”
He continued, “You can’t just seize ballots because you don’t like the outcome of the election or based on myth or hearsay or rumor or people talking in the streets. It has to be concrete evidence that there was some wrongdoing – and even then courts are going to interpret it as narrowly as they possibly can.”
What should you do if you see voter interference at the polls?
If you see something that looks like voter interference or harassment at the polls, you should talk to the election judge and report it to the Secretary of State’s Office.
“They are trained specifically to handle exactly this kind of situation,” Simon said. “So they have a pipeline to law enforcement, to the city or county administrators. So go to them, tell them that you saw something, you heard something, you observed something.”
Additionally, the Secretary of State’s Office wants folks to report any issues or questions directly to them. The all-purpose hotline is 877-600-VOTE.
Should constitutional observers be at the polls?
Since February 2025, Unidos MN has trained nearly 50,000 people to be constitutional observers through its rapid-response program known as Monarca. During Operation Metro Surge, these individuals legally documented and protested immigration raids.
Now, the rapid response network has adapted to election-defense preparations for the midterms. Alvillar is helping to lead these trainings and fielding questions from community members.
Many community members have told Alvillar that they’d like to have observers at the polling places. Yet Alvillar is advising constitutional observers to stay away from the polls. So is the Secretary of State’s Office.
Why this guidance? Alvillar and Monarca believe that the Trump administration may use the presence of constitutional observers to allege voter intimidation – and ballot fraud.
Furthermore, a large gathering of observers – with vests and whistles – may intimidate immigrant voters.
If an observer does want to be present for voters, Alvillar has other ideas. Volunteers may help by tabling away from the polling location – more like greeters than protesters.
“People could table a hundred feet away and just literally be welcoming,” Alvillar said. Coffee, cookies, nothing else. No lit, no messaging, nothing else. And it’s really about encouraging your fellow voters to go out and vote.”
Can I help my family and friends vote?
If your family members, friends and neighbors have an impediment to voting – a language barrier, hearing challenges, or difficulty understanding the ballot – you can help them vote. But you can not tell them who to vote for.
Beyond that role, Abdulle is asking community members to check with their loved ones and friends. “Help your neighbors,” she said. “Maybe they will be people who have a difficulty understanding the system. Maybe there would be people who would have a transportation difficulty or other barriers. Check with them. Ask what they need and how you can help them.”
Alvillar and Abdulle both emphasized the importance of visiting the Secretary of State’s website for voter information to help ground people in the best way to help and participate.
How to fight misinformation and disinformation
As we get closer to the election more Minnesotans are seeing rumors that spread online, especially through social media. And more AI videos are popping up on everyone’s feed; some may appear real and plausible.
So, what should you do if you see misinformation and disinformation spreading online?
First off, don’t spread it, Abdulle said – unless people “are 100% sure it’s coming from reliable sources.” Here, she refers people to the Secretary of State’s website, mnvotes.gov, or longtime, trusted democracy-support groups like Ayada Leads and Unidos MN.
These types of organizations won’t show up suddenly with surprising claims or tell you whom to vote for.
Where to watch and hear the conversation ‘Vote Without Fear’
You can watch the livestream recording on Sahan Journal’s YouTube page here.
‘Vote Without Fear’ will air twice this weekend on MPR News: At 9:00 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30; and 5:00 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1. Listen in at KNOW 91.1 FM (in the Twin Cities area), or mprnews.org.
