A Tale Of Two States: Why National Voter ID Is Critical To U.S. Elections: Minnesota and Kansas Have Different Approaches to Voter Verification and Securing Their Elections. And It Shows

A Tale Of Two States: Why National Voter ID Is Critical To U.S. Elections:

Minnesota and Kansas Have Different Approaches to Voter Verification and securing their elections. And it shows.

Minnesota’s leftist Secretary of State wants Congress to know that his Midwest state has “one of the most secure and accurate voter registration systems in the state.” 

That boast likely will be put to the test when Steve Simon appears before the House Administration Committee Thursday morning. Surely Simon will be asked to explain how a 39-year-old noncitizen in Minnesota registered and voted in the 2024 election. But wait, there’s more … a lot more. 

In a blue state led by ICE-hating radicals, Simon has placed politics over integrity, a common theme among Democrats fighting tooth and nail against the SAVE America Act and other measures to block foreign nationals from voting in U.S. elections. 

The Administration Committee Hearing, set to begin at 10:15 a.m. Swamp Time, is titled “Oversight with Secretaries of State: List Maintenance and Eligibility Verification.” Congressional sources say the committee will hear a tale of two secretaries of state — from Minnesota and Kansas. One who has eschewed common-sense election integrity reforms, another who has warmly embraced them. And, yes, blue vs. red has much to do with the starkly different approaches. 

Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., in January sent letters to the elections officials asking them how the they conducted voter-roll cleanup in compliance with federal voting and elections law. States are required to maintain current voter registration lists, remove ineligible registrants, and provide the lists to the public. 

Kansas Secretary of State Scott Schwab, a Republican who is running for governor, and Minnesota’s SOS, will testify at the hearing. 

🚨When illegal aliens are found on the voter rolls, it significantly undermines Americans’ confidence in our elections. Today, I’m expanding my investigation into noncitizen voting - READ MORE ⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/3fMckuGUPF

— Bryan Steil (@RepBryanSteil) January 22, 2026

‘Every Method and Data Source’

In his response to Steil’s January letter, Schwab thanked the chairman for the opportunity to provide information on his state’s voter-roll maintenance procedures. He said his office “relentlessly employs every method and data source authorized by the state legislature to maintain accurate voter rolls,” and included a long list. 

The Kansas Secretary of State’s office also uses the registration vetting tools provided by the Trump administration, including the Systematic Alien Verification Entitlements (SAVE) program. Administered by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the online system, allows governmental agencies to verify U.S citizenship. 

Kansas was among the first states to employ the SAVE database. Schwab said his office, for the first time in nearly a decade, was able to cross-index Kansas voter rolls with the Social Security death index 

“As a result, more than 5,500 deceased voters have already been canceled, after verifying through other means that they were deceased,” Schwab wrote. The same matching system helps identify potential noncitizens on voter rolls. 

The small southern Kansas town of Coldwater made national headlines in December when its mayor was charged with election fraud. Jose Ceballos, was arrested one day after winning a second term. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the alien from Mexico voted in “numerous” U.S. elections — a felony. He was charged with three counts of voting without being qualified and three counts of election perjury.

Schwab explained that the election integrity breach was an example of “an individual who had registered to vote before the advent of a centralized voter database with standardized procedures and verification screening.”

“His name was flagged by both the SAVE program and the state’s temporary driver’s license report, both tools became available only in late 2025. Criminal charges were promptly brought for registering and voting as a noncitizen,” the secretary wrote. 

Kansas has already implemented the provisions of this bill. I appreciate the legislature working with my office to codify these election security measures.

Grateful for @POTUS recognizing this fact a few months ago.

Thank you for your attention to this matter. #ksleg https://t.co/n6sKfdPMYq pic.twitter.com/GnbCLKjCeN

— Secretary Scott Schwab (@ScottSchwabKS) March 19, 2026

‘Only Limited Value’

Minnesota election officials, on the other hand, have thumbed their noses at the SAVE system — and Trump’s Department of Justice. Simon, in his response to Steil, claimed that the citizenship-vetting program “provides only limited value” to the Minnesota Office of Secretary of State. He said the majority of people who register to vote in the state use their driver’s licenses or state identification numbers, not their Social Security Number.  

Those lacking such ID, however, must provide the last four digits of their Social Security number, Simon explained. If they don’t have a Social Security number, they “must submit a certification to that effect.” It sounds like a faulty election integrity lullaby. Ultimately, the state’s “failsafe” is the dubious honor system in which all applicants must check a box attesting that they meet all requirements for voter eligibility — including U.S. citizenship.  

Moreover, Simon noted, he and his leftist band of Trump Derangement Syndrome sufferers don’t trust the “reliability and security” of the SAVE program. --->READ MORE HERE

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