Steve Simon Oversteps - Notes from Petition to Stop 2020 Certification

Based on the legal petition provided above (attached) and here, the key ways Steve Simon allegedly overstepped his constitutional role as Minnesota Secretary of State are as follows:

1. Altering Election Law Without Authority

• Entered into two stipulated settlement agreements with Democratic advocacy groups to remove the witness requirement for absentee/mail-in ballots without legislative approval
• Made these changes after the Republican-controlled Senate had explicitly refused to consent to such changes
• Exceeded his authority by unilaterally changing election procedures that are constitutionally reserved for the state legislature

2. Violation of Separation of Powers

• Usurped legislative power by using the judicial system to rewrite election laws after the legislature declined to make his requested changes
• Ignored that even during four special sessions between June-September 2020, the legislature chose not to remove the witness requirement
• Disregarded the constitutional principle that election law changes must come from the legislature, not executive officials

3. Impact on Election Security

• Removed a key security measure (witness requirement) that had been in place to verify absentee voter identity
• Created a significant change in scale: Minnesota went from 674,566 witnessed absentee ballots in 2016 to 1,909,277 unwitnessed absentee ballots in 2020
• Failed to ensure adequate safeguards were in place at ballot boards to compensate for removed security measures

4. Failure to Ensure Uniform Standards

• Did not provide clear guidance to county canvassing boards about post-election review procedures
• Failed to ensure election laws were implemented uniformly across the state
• Allowed inconsistent application of election procedures across different counties

5. Constitutional Violations

• Actions allegedly violated Equal Protection by creating disparate treatment between in-person and absentee voters
• Violated Due Process by failing to ensure uniform election administration
• Ignored federal court rulings (including from the 8th Circuit) that there is no "pandemic exception" to the Constitution

The petition argues these actions went well beyond Simon's administrative role as Secretary of State and represented an unconstitutional usurpation of legislative authority that compromised election integrity.