Walz helping his son vote wouldn't violate Minnesota election law | Fact check

The claim: Tim Walz violated election law by helping his son vote

An Oct. 24 Instagram video (direct link, archive link) shows a man leaning over the divider of a voting booth in a polling center and patting another person on the back.

"Tim Walz Assisting His Son In Voting?!" reads on-screen text. "Should He Be Sanctioned?"

The post's caption says, "Wow! Here is Tim Walz appearing to help his son vote. According to Minnesota law a candidate can’t assist someone with voting." It then briefly shows a document referencing a law that bans candidates from providing assistance to a disabled voter.

The post accumulated more than 10,000 likes in five days. Similar versions of the claim were shared on Facebook and X, formerly Twitter, including a version shared by the conservative account Libs of TikTok.

More from the Fact-Check Team: How we pick and research claims | Email newsletter | Facebook page

Our rating: False

It's unclear whether or not Walz helped his son Gus vote, but he wouldn't have been violating the law if he had, experts told USA TODAY. The statute mentioned in the post was amended in 2023 to remove language prohibiting political candidates from assisting disabled voters.

Minnesota law amended to no longer restrict political candidates

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz went to a St. Paul polling place to vote early on Oct. 23 with his wife and son, who had just turned 18 and was voting for the first time, according to The Associated Press.

Footage shared by a local TV station shows Tim Walz leaning over Gus Walz's voting booth before they feed their ballots into the tabulators together, but it's unclear whether or not the Democratic vice presidential candidate helped his son vote. USA TODAY reached out to Walz's representatives for comment but didn't immediately receive a response.

Even if the Minnesota governor had been helping his son, he wouldn't have broken the law.

The statute mentioned in the post says a voter in need of assistance because they are unable to read English or physically mark a ballot may be helped by election judges or any other individual of the voter's choice. A prior version of the law passed in 1984 says that helper can't be "the voter's employer, an agent of the voter's employer, an officer or agent of the voter's union or a candidate for election."

But Cassondra Knudson, a Minnesota Secretary of State spokesperson, told USA TODAY the law has since been amended to strike out the language restricting candidates from assisting voters.

Fact check: Attempt to compare Walz, Vance actions gets half the story wrong

This change took effect in June 2023, and the new language is reflected in the current law. The document describing this law referenced in the Instagram post and other versions of this claim was last updated in 2009.

David Schultz, a political science and legal studies professor at Hamline University and a law professor at the University of Minnesota, told USA TODAY it would not be unlawful for Walz to help his son vote. Jason Marisam, also a law professor at Hamline University, told USA TODAY the same thing.

"Yes, elected officials cannot assist voters, but ... there are exceptions and one of them would be if the governor was helping a learning-disabled son vote," Schultz said. "There is no prosecutor in the state who would bring this case."

Walz has said his son has a non-verbal learning disability. Those with such disabilities typically struggle with a range of social and spatial skills, including reading comprehension and fine motor skills, according to the NVLD Project.

The Minnesota governor's son was thrust into the national spotlight in August when he was filmed sobbing and cheering on his father at the Democratic National Convention. Some conservative pundits and Trump supporters online criticized Gus Walz's show of affection, though several deleted their posts after learning about his disability.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Our fact-check sources:

• Cassondra Knudson, Oct. 24, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• David Schultz, Oct. 28, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Jason Marisam, Oct. 28, Email exchange with USA TODAY

• Minnesota Legislature, accessed Oct. 24, 2023 Minnesota Statutes: 204C.15 Assistance To Voters

• Minnesota Legislature, accessed Oct. 24, 2013 Minnesota Statutes: 204C.15 Assistance To Voters

• Minnesota Legislature, accessed Oct. 24, Minnesota Session Laws – 2023, Regular Session: Chapter 62 – H.F.No. 1830

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: No, Walz didn't violate Minnesota election law with son | Fact check