Attention St. Paul landlords: It’s now your responsibility to inform your tenants how to register to vote.

By a vote of 5-1, the St. Paul City Council on Wednesday approved a new ordinance requiring landlords to supply voter registration information to new tenants at the time of lease signing or occupancy. Failure to do so is considered a petty misdemeanor.

“This is something that is a relatively modest request,” said St. Paul City Council President Amy Brendmoen, who said she sponsored the ordinance in light of the growing number of renters across the city. About 27 percent of the city’s voting-age population participated in the mayoral election last November, and that was considered surprisingly high turnout for St. Paul.

The new rules drew some criticism from Council Member Jane Prince, who questioned the connection between landlord duties and voter registration. Council Member Dan Bostrom was absent.

“I feel that there’s a lot of things we need landlords to do, but I don’t feel that this is one of the things we need them to do the most,” Prince said.