An election official’s recent appearance on Somali TV of Minnesota is raising a few eyebrows as the days tick down until the midterm elections. The state is home to one of the country’s hottest Senate races this cycle, with Republican Michele Tafoya unexpectedly nipping at the heels of Democrat Peggy Flanagan.
The election official in question is Melanie Hazelip, voter outreach director for Democrat Secretary of State Steve Simon. She appeared on Somali TV of Minnesota on October 26 to walk viewers through the state’s voter registration process, including how to cast a ballot without bringing any identification to the polling place.
“If you’re already registered to vote, you don’t need to bring anything with you,” Hazelip explained.
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
Here’s more from Hazelip:
“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.
“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. 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.”
While this is technically correct according to Minnesota law, Hazelip’s appearance has sparked an online firestorm, with many wondering about the questionable timing of the outreach to this specific community and her emphasis on the state’s lax voter registration rules.
One X user keenly noted, “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.”
David McIntosh, co-founder of the Federalist Society, called shenanigans on the entire thing, tweeting, “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?”
Bill Glahn from the Center of the American Experiment told Fox News Digital, “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.”
The Minnesota secretary of state’s office defended Hazelip’s appearance as a routine, nonpartisan voter outreach effort and insisted that her remarks are being misrepresented.
But with Election Day just around the corner and Republicans hoping to pull off a Senate upset in Minnesota, the timing of this particular outreach effort was of course going to attract attention.
And, as Glahn pointed out, there was one rather important detail Hazelip could have emphasized to the Somali community: You have to be an American citizen to vote.
Editor’s Note: The Democrats are doing everything in their power to undermine the integrity of our elections.
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