OPINION | Attack on civil rights: Deja vu 1960s, 1930s

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We shouldn’t be smiling, but the impulse is understandable. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota has put up a $1,000 bounty for anyone who can prove a case of voter fraud that could have been prevented by a proposed Constitutional amendment that will be on the ballot this November.Back up about three paces and look around. The fact that no one will collect on the ACLU bounty becomes irrelevant.What should become clear is that Minnesotans’ civil liberties are under attack on a wide front, a coordinated attack that has far-reaching economic and social consequences for future generations. It is an attack that will make Minnesota society even more divisive and lead to greater class warfare down the road.“It is the civil rights battle all over again,” said Patricia Mack, a retiree who has become a volunteer for the Minneapolis chapter of the League of Women Voters to help people register to vote.It isn’t just black people being singled out now, like a half century ago, she added. “The targets are the young, the elderly and the immigrants.”Amending the state Constitution to restrict people’s lives and livelihood, and make it difficult to vote, all become personal liberty issues that will carry economic baggage for the state.Mack wants to help people potentially harmed by Legislative actions and proposed Constitutional amendments to retain their ability to vote, she said. Continue Reading

Possible solution to voter photo ID deadlock

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Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is advocating a more secure voting system that potentially could please both sides of the voter photo ID debate.Republicans want to require Minnesotans to present a photo ID at the polls before they can vote.Democratic Farmer Laborites say that would discourage people who don’t have a photo ID from voting — many of whom are poor, elderly and/or disabled.Electronic poll books provide the photo identification of voters that Republicans seek without putting the onus of getting a photo ID on the voters as DFLers despise. Secretary of State Mark Ritchie sees it as a possible bipartisan solution to the issue.Minnesota made, more secure and less costly than voter photo ID proposalDuring a Senate hearing on Friday, Ritchie described the electronic poll books made by Datacard, a Minnesota company. Like photo ID, the system puts a photo of the potential voter in front of the election judge who can decide whether the person is who they say. But instead of the voter providing the ID, which could be forged, the photo is securely pulled up from Minnesota’s drivers license photo database. The poll book could be on paper or on a computer.If a person isn’t in the photo database, the person could register and have a photo taken on the spot. Continue Reading

Black votes on the line with Voter ID

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A year after the 2008 presidential election, calls for new voter identification laws were heard in many states, including Minnesota. Led by a group called the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) composed mostly of Republicans, proponents claim that such a law is needed because there is “rampant voter fraud.”ALEC’s public safety and elections task force drafted the Voter ID Act in the summer of 2009, which would require “proof of identity” to vote. Those without a valid photo ID must fill out a provisional ballot that is only counted if the voter produces an ID by the Monday following the election. It also suggests that ID cards be made available free of charge to eligible voters without a valid driver’s license.ALEC is a Republican-favored organization that is promoting “its right-wing agenda” in all 50 states, says Color of Change.org, a national activist group that has launched a national campaign calling for corporations and others to stop financially supporting the organization. The MSR tried contacting ALEC’s Washington offices for comment, but no one answered the phone and there was not an answering system available to leave messages.Since 2009, 33 states have introduced some form of photo ID bill, and 14 states have passed laws that now require voters to present a federal- or state-issued photo ID with an expiration date at the polls. Continue Reading

MN voter ID amendment advances over objections

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“Provisional balloting” is now part of a proposed Minnesota constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote, however public testimony was not allowed on the impact it might have on voting. The Senate Local Government and Elections committee gave it approval on a party line 8-6 vote today.Bill author Senator Scott Newman (R-Hutchinson) admitted the photo ID requirement will put a burden on the elderly, the poor, the disabled and college students. But he said “we somehow have to balance that additional burden … against the integrity of our election system.”Senator Newman said he believes there is election fraud in Minnesota. When pressed on who was telling him there was fraud, he said the stories were coming from constituents, but declined to give specifics saying “I’m not so sure you’re going to believe me when I tell you.”There were still questions about the changes in the amendment when committee chair Senator Ray Vandeveer (R-Forest Lake) cut off debate and called for a vote. After the result was announced there were boos from the public that had come to speak, but was not allowed to testify.Crowd of protesters outside of voter photo ID hearing (Photo courtesy of TakeAction Minnesota)About 200 members of the public attended the hearing, but were not allowed to be heard. Continue Reading

$1,000 bet says you can’t find voter impersonation fraud in MN since 2002

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to voter fraud.The ACLU is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can find someone who has been charged or convicted with impersonating a Minnesota voter after January 1, 2002.“I’ll bet you can’t find (such a case)”, said DFL Representative Tom Rukavina, peering over a stack of a thousand one-dollar bills. “There has been no proven case of anybody impersonating another voter. ”DFL lawmakers and the ACLU oppose a Republican backed constitutional amendment requiring voters have a state-issued photo ID.Who voter photo ID will hurtRepresentative Mindy Greiling (DFL) noted that the right to vote is “protected by more amendments in our US constitution than any other right. ”Representative Carly Melin (DFL), one of the youngest members of the legislature said the amendment would prevent many college students from voting. “There are tens of thousands of college students in Minnesota and they move often as they are getting their education. Continue Reading

OPINION | Suppressing votes of people with disabilities

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What if all the residents in your city faced unnecessary requirements that prevented them from exercising their right to vote? What if all citizens in your entire county faced hurdles that kept them from getting to the polls on Election Day? Proposals being debated this session to amend the constitution and require a photo ID for Minnesotans to vote could create just such a barrier for thousands of our citizens.Last year, the Minnesota Legislature passed legislation to require every voter to present a state-approved photo ID before casting a ballot. Gov. Dayton vetoed this bill, so voter ID proponents are adopting a new strategy — amending the Minnesota Constitution. Bills introduced so far to do that are HF 1597 and HF 1662 (both authored by Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer), SF 1577 (authored by Sen. Scott Newman), SF 1578 (authored by Sen. Al DeKruif), and SF 1659 (authored by Sen. Joe Gimse). Continue Reading

Voter ID amendment draws opposition to state Capitol

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The controversial voter ID amendment went through its first test at the state Capitol on Wednesday.The Minnesota State Senate Local Government and Elections Committee listened to hours of public testimony before deciding to table the amendment for further discussion.Thirty-one people registered to testify during the hearing that lasted more than five hours with additional walk-in speakers. Testifiers and observers packed the Senate hearing room, and about 50 additional observers filed into an overflow room to watch on closed-circuit television. An overwhelming majority, including University of Minnesota student Sydney Jordan, testified against the proposed constitutional amendment that would require Minnesotans to show photo identification when they vote. Jordan, an Illinois native and member of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, testified that the amendment would disenfranchise student voters.“Such an amendment would deter many students from voting, including myself, as many of us do not possess IDs with our current address.”Only a handful testified in favor of it.Members of advocacy groups from both sides of the issue went to the Capitol to voice their opinion.“Basically, it’s going to make it harder for students to vote,” said Joey Dobson, a campus organizer for MPIRG.Dobson and MPIRG oppose the proposed constitutional amendment. She said they would continue to fight it even if it’s put on the ballot.Republican legislators proposed a bill in the 2011 legislative session, but it was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton because he said it lacked bipartisan support.Dan McGrath, the executive director of Minnesota Majority, said his organization found record numbers of voter fraud. A 2011 Minnesota Majority study found that there were 113 convictions for voter fraud in 2008, mainly resulting from people voting despite being ineligible to do so.McGrath said election fraud was a significant problem inMinnesota elections and said his group was responsible for finding fraud, not the “cracker jack election workers.”“We need improvement in the process in, I think, a very major way,” McGrath said.McGrath said the testimonies claiming that the proposed amendment would disenfranchise voters were “ridiculous.”A November 2010 report from Citizens for Election Integrity Minnesota found only seven cases of voter impersonation investigations since 2008. Continue Reading

Voter photo ID issue returns

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The Minnesota Legislature will officially begin its session the week after next, and one of the issues that is bound to come up is a proposal to ask voters to amend the Minnesota Constitution to require photo ID for voters in Minnesota.This question was raised during last year’s session and a photo ID measure was passed by the Republican controlled House and Senate, but was subsequently vetoed by Governor Mark Dayton, a Democrat.The idea is sure to come up again in the election year session of 2012. One group that has been busily at work promoting its view of the issue is Citizens for Election Integrity, Minnesota. Its Executive Director is Kathy Bonnifield and she talked with KFAI’s Michelle Alimoradi and Bob Hines. [Audio below] Continue Reading

State legislators will square off in on-campus voter ID debate

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The University of Minnesota’s debate team is hosting a debate about the possibility of a state-mandated voter ID requirement Thursday.The debate will feature four current state legislators: Rep. Phyllis Kahn, DFL-Minneapolis; Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake Sen. John Marty, DFL-Roseville and Sen. Warren Limmer, R-Maple Grove.According to a press release for the event, the controversy surrounding voter ID laws is “relevant to students, as these laws could prevent them from voting where they attend school.”The state Legislature passed a bill in May that would require Minnesotans to show a photo ID at the polls, but it was vetoed by Gov. Mark Dayton after the session ended. Kiffmeyer authored the bill in the House of Representatives.“The three most important elements of elections are accessibility, accuracy and integrity,” Kiffmeyer wrote in a press release after her bill passed the House. “This is a common sense bill that protects and enhances those elements.”Kiffmeyer also introduced a bill that would put the question on the 2012 ballot as a constitutional amendment, but the bill didn’t pass before the legislative session ended.All told, legislatures in 20 states introduced bills that would institute the ID requirement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Fourteen states have passed laws requiring photo ID to vote, and another 16 require some form of identification.Under Kiffmeyer’s proposal, people lacking valid IDs on Election Day can cast a provisional ballot that would not be counted unless they supplied the required items within seven days.Jeremy Reichenberger, president of College Democrats at the University of Minnesota, said that many students are likely unaware of what the voter ID requirement would mean for them.“I think the voter ID law would make it much more difficult for students to vote in this area,” he said. The proposal would also eliminate vouching in Minnesota, a way to prove residency for on-site registration on Election Day.In November 2010, members of the University group Students Organizing for America, a group aligned with the Democratic Party, were asked to leave a polling place when a precinct judge suspected them for improper vouching during the gubernatorial race. Several group members were discovered vouching for neighborhood residents that they did not personally know.The debate will take place on the West Bank campus at 7 p.m. in Willey Hall. Continue Reading