Concerns Over Security, New COVID-19 Variant Behind Minnesota House Policy Change For Voting, Remote Work

By Ricardo Lopez, the Minnesota Reformer

January 21, 2021

Recent security concerns at the Minnesota Capitol and the emergence of a more transmissible COVID-19 variant are behind a policy change in the Minnesota House that will for now allow members to work fully virtual during the legislative session.

Melissa Hortman, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor House Speaker, had previously required her members to drive to St. Paul for votes, conservatively interpreting the Minnesota Constitution’s language dictating that “the Legislature shall meet at the seat of government.”

Hortman said she weighed the risk of a legal challenge if a majority of votes were not cast in St. Paul for legislation.

Because of COVID-19 protocols, members often voted from their offices on the Capitol complex or homes in St. Paul. Some members even voted from their cars, joining the House via conference call during floor sessions.

Hortman said the policy change was made possible by improved voting technology that allows members to vote simultaneously. Previously, the House clerk called all 134 member names to record their votes.

The new COVID-19 variant comes as the state is racing to vaccinate Minnesotans, but grappling with supply-chain issues. The Minnesota Capitol has also been largely barricaded, and the FBI in late 2020 warned about the potential of armed threats.

“When you look at those things together, is there a reason to have members driving in?” Hortman said. “To me, on balance, the very remote risk that somebody’s going to sue and say that we’re not meeting at the seat of government was a small risk compared to the more substantial risk to members and staff of being in the building.”

The Minnesota Senate, meanwhile, did not require its members to be in St. Paul for votes.

Members could vote by proxy, meaning other members would read their votes into the record.

The Minnesota Reformer is an independent, nonprofit news organization dedicated to keeping Minnesotans informed and unearthing stories other outlets can’t or won’t tell..