A Republican-backed bill before the Minnesota House aimed at opening more records at the state attorney general’s office failed on party lines Thursday in the chamber’s first floor vote of the legislative session.

As fraud emerges as a top priority this session, Minnesota lawmakers ask the U.S. Department of Justice to step in.

House Republicans pushed for a vote on a bill to require the attorney general’s office, occupied now by DFLer Keith Ellison, to be more forthcoming with records. Democrats framed it as a partisan measure.