Minnesota's secretary of state warns of election disinformation days before primary

MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota primary is in just two days.

The key races include the 5th Congressional District where Democrats have a rematch between Congresswoman Ilhan Omar and former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels .

In Sunday's Talking Points , Esme Murphy reports Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon is warning voters to beware of election deep fakes and misinformation.

Both Republicans and Democrats have been hit. Former President Donald Trump's campaign says it has been hacked.

The digital news outlet Politico says it received internal emails from the Trump campaign from an anonymous source. A Trump campaign spokesman suggested Iran was responsible, but offered no evidence tying that nation to the hack.

On Friday, Microsoft issued a report with details about foreign agents trying to interfere in the U.S. election.

Just last week, five secretaries of state, including Simon, wrote a letter to billionaire Elon Musk warning that a bot had spread inaccurate information on X about Vice President Kamala Harris not making a deadline to be on the ballot in five states including Minnesota.

That is not true. Harris will be on the ballot in all 50 states.

Simon was a guest on WCCO Sunday Morning at 10:30 a.m.

"We contacted them on it and we said, 'hey, it's wrong' and they greeted us with more or less of a shoulder shrug, 'Well, we will get to it. We have a disclaimer on it, it's no big deal.' It is a big deal," Simon said on the interaction with X representatives.

Tuesday's primary is one of the first tests of a new Minnesota law criminalizing campaign misinformation that's now in effect.

The 2023 law covers all elections, ranging from a school board vote to a vote for president. The law provides for sentences of anywhere between three months and five years in prison if convicted. Sentencing time depends on the offense itself and whether it is a repeat violation or not.