Publication date: November 17, 2022
Written by: Travis Taylor
The Center for Excellence in Polling recently surveyed likely Minnesota voters on a range of issues from unemployment to election integrity.
Results show that large majorities of Minnesota voters support myriad commonsense policies designed to ensure integrity in government programs, including unemployment, food stamps, and election administration. Below are some of the key findings of this survey.
Minnesota voters overwhelmingly support bolstering the integrity of the state’s unemployment program through a series of reforms that draw support across party lines:
83%
…of all likely voters support requiring unemployment applications to be cross-checked against existing data to ensure applicants are truly eligible for benefits. This popular reform attracts the support of 84 percent of Independents, three-quarters of Democrats, and nine in 10 Republicans.
72%
…of all likely voters support a six-month restriction from unemployment benefits for individuals who refuse to report income changes as required by law. In addition, 67 percent of voters say that businesses should report job applicants who are receiving unemployment benefits but refuse a suitable job offer.
70%
…of all likely voters support requiring individuals on unemployment to perform at least one meaningful work search activity each business day. Requiring meaningful work searches every day is supported by large majorities of voters, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Minnesotans also support policies that preserve food stamp benefits for the truly needy:
73%
…of all likely voters support requiring food stamp recipients to report material changes in their financial situation that would make them ineligible for food stamps within 10 days. Food stamp reporting requirements are supported by 85 percent of Republicans, three-quarters of Independents, and more than six in 10 Democrats.
72%
…of all likely voters support work requirements for able-bodied adults without young children as a condition of eligibility for food stamp benefits. While food stamp work requirements are currently suspended by the federal government, this policy remains popular with large majorities of Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
In light of recent questions around the security and integrity of elections, large majorities of Minnesota voters support policies to increase confidence in elections:
87%
…of all likely voters say that an individual should have to be a U.S. citizen to vote in Minnesota’s state and local elections. Support for this reform cuts across party lines. And a logical way to ensure this requirement is met is through the requirement that voters provide a valid, government issued ID number on absentee ballots, a reform that is supported by 76 percent of Minnesotans, including nearly two-thirds of Democrats, more than three-quarters of Independents, and more than nine in ten Republicans.
79%
…of all likely voters support requiring a bipartisan team to escort ballots as they are transported from one place to another. Other election integrity measures garner the support of large majorities of voters as well, including post-election audits (73%), pre-processing of absentee ballots (69%), and annual independent audits of voter registration data (68%).
THE BOTTOM LINE: Despite its reputation as a stronghold for the Left, bipartisan majorities of Minnesota voters support commonsense reforms that are designed to increase the integrity of government programs ranging from unemployment, welfare, and elections.