Outrage Erupts Over Minnesota Election Official's Message on 'Somali TV': Doesn't This Mean Illegals Can Easily Vote?
A Minnesota official provoked outrage after she appeared to encourage Somali voters to cast ballots without cautioning them that federal elections are only open to U.S. citizens.
“If you’re already registered to vote, you don’t need to bring anything with you,” Minnesota Voter Outreach Director Melanie Hazelip said on Somali TV, according to Fox News.
“You just show up to your early voting location, which is usually the county office or City Hall. Minneapolis and the bigger jurisdictions have a lot of extra places where you can go, like a lot of libraries or community centers. As long as you’re registered to vote, you don’t need to bring anything with you,” she said.
“If you’re not registered to vote… you still have options. If you have a Minnesota ID that is updated, that’s all you need to bring with you,” she said.
“If you don’t have that, there is a list of documents on our website that you can find. You still have options to get registered same day.”
The problem, as social media page End Wokeness noted, is that “MN famously gives IDs to non-citizens.”
BREAKING: MN official Melanie Hazelip just went on Somali TV explaining how Somalis could vote without IDs
They can even register same-day using a STATE ID FROM MINNESOTA
MN famously gives IDs to non-citizens https://t.co/EH1fmAaAzX
— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) October 27, 2026
State rules limit voting to U.S. citizens, but the documents accepted for registration offer non-citizens a potential path to voting, depending on the documents they use, conservatives argued.
As noted by Ballotpedia, Minnesota is not among the states requiring documented proof of citizenship to vote.
“Minnesota lets you vote if you are a U.S. citizen, at least 18 years old on Election Day, and have lived in the state for at least 20 days before the election,” according to Legal Clarity, which added, “The state also offers Election Day registration.”
It noted that on Election Day, anyone who says they are a citizen can register with a Minnesota driver’s license.
A Minnesota election official just went on Somali TV and walked viewers through how to same-day register and vote using a Minnesota state ID.
Minnesota hands out those IDs to non-citizens with no citizenship marking. Vouching lets one registered voter clear up to eight others on an oath. Citizenship is required by law. Real-time proof is not.
The same state that lost hundreds of millions to documented fraud in childcare, nutrition, and Medicaid programs is now advertising the lowest-friction path to the ballot on community TV. Affirm you’re a citizen. Cast the vote. Get investigated later—if at all.
This is how the system is built. It is not an accident.
— Phillip C Parrish (@phillipcparrish) October 27, 2026
The state requires multiple documents to get a driver’s license, but according to its list, proof of citizenship is one option, but is not required.
As Fox News noted, Minnesota lets a registered voter “vouch” for up to eight other voters’ residencies if they come to register on Election Day without an ID. The registered voter must sign an oath confirming the address or addresses.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office sidestepped the issue of whether state rules are strict enough to prevent a non-citizen from voting if that individual wants to lie about his or her citizenship.
Democrats are on a mission to tell every non-citizen how they can get away with voting in our elections. How is this not election interference? https://t.co/RW68UJKHBZ
— David M. McIntosh (@DavidMMcintosh) October 27, 2026
“Recently, our voter outreach director spoke with a local news outlet and provided accurate information about Minnesota election laws and how eligible voters cast their ballots. Unfortunately, her accurate remarks have been misinterpreted and misrepresented by political actors online,” it said in a statement.
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“With only a few days left before the election, we remain focused on making sure every eligible Minnesotan knows how and where to cast their ballot,” the statement said.
Bill Glahn, a policy fellow at the Center of the American Experiment, chided that “given the timing, so close to the election — and the audience, Somali TV — she really should have emphasized the need to be an American citizen in order to vote.”
“It’s true most Somali immigrants are indeed naturalized citizens, but not all,” Glahn said. “In fact, we just had a noncitizen sentenced to 30 years in federal prison for the Feeding Our Future fraud,” he said.
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