What more does the state need to do to guard against it and assist businesses that fall victim? We'll start with you, Steve Stein.

One of my proudest accomplishments in my time in this job is the bill that we just passed that just took effect on January 1st to tackle business identity theft.

And what happens is bad actors can come in and they can either file a phony business, they could before, or they can come in and inhabit the shoes, basically hijack an existing business.

And before this law was passed, broad bipartisan support, by the way, we had to tell folks, look, we can't undo a particular transaction absent a court order.

So you got to go lawyer up at your own expense.

You've got to go to court, get a court to tell us to undo something.

Now we don't have that problem.

We'll start with you, Steve Simon.

What's good about it and what should be changed? It's broadly

popular.

What is vouching? It's meant for people like my dad, who once upon a time moved from city to city within Minnesota in October of an election year.

So what was he going to do? His driver's license wasn't updated yet.

And you need a license that shows you are who you say you are and you live where you say you live.

So he used vouching.

He had to find a neighbor who was registered to vote in his precinct, not some random person on the street.

My name is Chip Tangen, and I ask for your support.

Do you know how many voting sites DOJ monitors went to? Are you expecting something similar in numbers in November?

Hard to say.

In the primary, I think they had sent two-person teams, like a handful or so of two-person teams.

I think the number was something like 40 polling places overall, 40-ish, something like that.

And we were there to watch them everywhere they were watching.

just to make sure that everyone was following the law and following the rules.

And by the way, I should point out that the law gives the counties, in this case, Ramsey and Hennepin, the right to, in essence, veto their presence in the polling place itself, which they did.

How secure are elections in Minnesota?

Do you know how many voting sites DOJ monitors went to? Are you expecting something similar in numbers in November?

Hard to say.

In the primary, I think they had sent two-person teams, like a handful or so of two-person teams.

I think the number was something like 40 polling places overall, 40-ish, something like that.

And we were there to watch them everywhere they were watching.

just to make sure that everyone was following the law and following the rules.

And by the way, I should point out that the law gives the counties, in this case, Ramsey and Hennepin, the right to, in essence, veto their presence in the polling place itself, which they did.

How secure are elections in Minnesota?

What went wrong that allowed these folks to be able to cast votes?

Well, first, let me say we were happy to cooperate and help the Department of Justice in the bringing of these charges.

They asked us for and we gave them some data and information that led to the charges.

And look, one is too many.

I mean, it doesn't matter what the number was.

If you break our election laws, you're committing a crime against democracy, period.

And you have to be brought to justice.

But were there any repercussions for those people?

Like, do you find yourself walking a tightrope? Like how political, how much of a firebrand can I really be? Because I have this other job that I'm doing.

Yeah, I mean, obviously I've been able, I think, to successfully harmonize and balance those two things.

And let me just give you a couple examples.

I made the decision very early on after I got elected that I wouldn't, and it's not written anywhere in state law, but I consulted a lot of people and I decided, and it's the right decision, I do not endorse candidates for any office at any level for any reason.

It doesn't matter if it's partisan or nonpartisan.

I don't endorse school board candidates, city council.

I don't endorse presidents of the United States.

Are you a history buff? Do you take lessons from history?

You go forward.

Of course.

You have to.

Under state law, under federal law, you've got to do that.

You've got to scrub and clean and filter and vet.

after the fact, not just before, to make sure that there was no mischief.

And I just got to say, the word I always use, Joel, is microscopic.

You

How important has that cooperation been in the past?

Well, that's what's really disappointing this election cycle.

Over the last decade or more, we in Minnesota and all states have enjoyed a really good partnership with the federal government, particularly with the Department of Homeland Security.

This cycle, that cooperation is all but gone.

And that's unfortunate.

It didn't have to be that way.

By the way, I want to give credit where it's due.

What are your concerns around sharing that data with the federal government?

How important has that cooperation been in the past?

Well, that's what's really disappointing this election cycle.

Over the last decade or more, we in Minnesota and all states have enjoyed a really good partnership with the federal government, particularly with the Department of Homeland Security.

This cycle, that cooperation is all but gone.

And that's unfortunate.

It didn't have to be that way.

By the way, I want to give credit where it's due.

What are your concerns around sharing that data with the federal government?

Secretary Simon, I'd love to begin by getting your reaction to the letter the Department of Justice sent out last week.

I think it was a lot of noise, frankly.

What the letter really was was a laundry list of federal laws that we are well aware of, that we are very familiar with, along with the penalties, which we are also very familiar with.

And this was not news to anyone.

The fact that this letter was sent or someone thought it needed to be sent is a little bit puzzling.

So I'm not one who sees this as...

I see it as something else.

What processes and procedures do you currently have in place in Minnesota to prevent noncitizens from voting?

Can you help us understand the significance of the commissioners firing? What does it mean for midterms and looking forward to 2028?

Well, Rev, thanks for having me.

I think this is really part of a pattern.

I mean, this one thing might seem kind of boring to a lot of people, but this Election Assistance Commission really, really helps the states out a lot in administering elections, whether it's through helping to certify elections equipment or get information out there about what the rules are.

And look at the pattern here.

I mean, whether it's these unconstitutional executive orders, whether it's raiding the elections office in Atlanta, Georgia, whether it's attempting to hamstring the U.S.

Postal Service.

Secretary, what are your biggest concerns for the upcoming midterms? What are you and other secretaries of state focusing on?

true

fraud, like intentional someone going out to do the wrong thing, registering or voting, we know it really is microscopic.

It really is.

It's not zero.

It isn't zero.

There's always going to be a very small portion of that, but that's true.

I'll give you another example that made a couple headlines here a couple years back.

right?