MN Voter Photo ID Is A Cut And Paste ALEC Creation Says Common Cause

"Substantially equivalent means equivalent substantially" - Click photo to hear Rep. Kiffmeyer's explanation

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has written 60 bills that have been introduced into the Minnesota legislature according to a Common Cause report. That’s more bills than any other state.

Dean says beyond comparing the language with ALEC’s model bills and what is introduced, the other evidence that these proposed laws are written by corporate lobbyists is the supposed legislative authors of the bills don’t really understand them.

For example, Dean points to the recently passed voter photo ID amendment. The bill’s legislative authors couldn’t explain or refused to explain what the proposed laws really meant. In one hearing Representative Mary Kiffmeyer defined a key phrase in her bill “substantially equivalent” as “equivalent, substantially.”

Dean isn’t alone in his criticism. During debate on the bill Democrats repeatedly complained about Representative Kiffmeyer’s refusal to directly answer questions about what the bill would do. Kiffmeyer has defended her authorship of the bill saying that she did write it. She is a member of ALEC, but downplays her membership.

Dean says teacher gives lawmakers “F” for plagiarism in writing laws.

Plagiarism Or Research By Minnesota Legislators?

Click on photo to watch interview with MN Common Cause Executive Director Mike Dean

Minnesota Common Cause Executive Director Mike Dean says a teacher who looked at one of the bills said she would have given the author an “F” because “this is plagiarism.”

Dean says that is why authors of the Minnesota photo ID constitutional amendment, such as Representative Mary Kiffmeyer, were not able to answer some very basic questions about the bill.

According to Dean, ALEC is a secretive organization that creates legislation in cooperation with legislators to benefit its corporate members and then provides lobbying support to pass them. The bills are often given a benign sounding name that obscures the real intent of the bill. Minnesota apparently leads the nation with 60 ALEC authored bills, Virginia has 50 to be the presumed second.

What ALEC is doing in Minnesota and who is behind it. … Continue Reading

Gov. Dayton Responds to Voter Photo ID Passage

This morning Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton vetoed a Republican legislative effort to raid the state’s budget reserves to buy back part of the remaining school shift and also responded to yesterday’s passage of the GOP’s Photo Voter ID constitutional amendment, which will now appear on November’s ballot.

Governor Dayton’s Veto Letter (PDF)

EBT Card: Fraud or Confusion?

Click photo to hear why it's impossible to have two EBT cards in your name

Can someone cheat Minnesota’s welfare system as described in a recent Minnesota House hearing?

No says Angel Buechner of the Welfare rights committee. “It’s such a myth. There’s no way a person can have more than one EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) card”

Buechner says “It was a cop who brought this up (to the legislature), saying he’s arrested people and found more than one EBT card on a person and he figures that a potential for fraud.”

There are already safeguards in place preventing a person from being issued more than one card. The card is issued by the county and it is a replacement for the old paper food stamps and the monthly welfare check. The card is issued by the county upon proper determination of eligibility and the monthly amount is set in the central computer record. This includes the monthly “food stamp” allowance and a cash amount if appropriate. The recipient does nothing to renew the monthly benefits, they are posted to the computer record.

Buechner says one person might have more than one card in possession if he or she were shopping for other members of the household.

“Poor bashing” bills … Continue Reading

MN Senate Turns Deaf Ear To Silent Voter ID Protestors

Click on Photo to Watch Voter ID Protest

Their signs told their story of opposition. They say the GOP-led push for Voter Photo ID is unnecessary, expensive and disenfranchises many voters and is opposed by most voting agencies. If Minnesota voters approve it on the November ballot, it would essentially kill same-day voter registration, a reason often cited for the state’s high voter turnout. The protestors were joined by three supporters of the amendment, who repeated the fear of voter fraud.

The Senate ignored the silence and went on to approve the amendment on a party line vote, which will put it on the 2012 ballot.

MN Governor, Secretary of State Reacts to Voter Photo ID Passage

Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie speaks to the press shortly after the final passage of a proposed constitutional amendment that would require a photo ID to vote in Minnesota.

Governor Mark Dayton statement on the passage of voter photo ID:

“This is a partisan amendment based on a false premise that voter fraud is a significant problem in Minnesota. Our election system is the best in the nation. We have the highest voter turnout year after year and under intense, bipartisan scrutiny, the recent statewide recounts have highlighted how reliable the results are. Much of the strength of the system derives from over 150 years of bipartisan work and its federated nature – the 87 county auditors, hundreds of municipal clerks, and 30,000 volunteer election judges who administer Minnesota’s elections and ensure they are free and fair.

“Republicans in the legislature had two years to negotiate bipartisan reforms to election law, and it is disappointing that their failure to do so has led to an unnecessary constitutional amendment that would make it harder for law abiding citizens, including tens of thousands of seniors, service members, and students, to exercise their right to vote. I cannot support a constitutional amendment that is pushed through the legislative process by only one political party – and neither should Minnesotans if they see it on the ballot this fall.”

Read the Minnesota legislature twitter feed and watch the video at the same time.

Minnesota Majority Accuses Secretary of State Mark Ritchie of Deceiving the Public

Click Image to View Video

Minnesota Majority, North Star Tea Party Patriots, We Want Voter ID and Minnesota Voter Alliance came together to respond to claims made by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie that the Voter Id Amendment will disenfranchise voters.

“Mark Ritchie paints apocolyptic scenarios for endless court battles over uncounted provisional ballots. But 44 other states use them, and none of these other states have the kind of problems Ritchie warns about,” said Minnesota Majority’s Dan McGrath.

Ritchie has offered electronic pollbooks-a solution to the current voter id. This was a response to a task force created last year to bolster election integrity. The creation of a provisional system has generated a tremendous amount of opposition from the people who administer the election because its a creation of a brand new system. Ritchie says there will be additional costs in creating this new system as well.

A Modern Day John Beargrease To Save MN Environment

Click Image to Watch Video

Former Minnesota State Representative Frank Moe was a modern day John Beargrease when he delivered signatures to Governor Dayton explaining the dangers of sulfide mining.

Debate is currently underway to allow sulfide mining to occur on the edge of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Frank Moe collected thousands of signatures opposing the plan. He set off on an eight day journey from Northern Minnesota to the State Capitol in Saint Paul to personally deliver them to Governor Mark Dayton-and he did it by sled dog!

Environmental groups like Conservation Minnesota and Minnesota Environmental Partnership are contesting the argument that mining will create jobs in a down economy.

Says, Steve Morse, Executive Director of Minnesota Environmental Partnership, ” We’ve had repeated attempts that say, ‘How can we weaken our environmental protections.’ As Minnesotans, we value the great outdoors and this new type of mining poses a threat to our waters and the environment.”

Also in attendance was Robert DesJarlait who founded the group Protect our Manoomin (Wild Rice). Wild Rice will also be threatened by this new type of mining, claims Des Jarlait.

Music provided by legendary singer Larry Long and Ringing Shield Drum Circle.

Voter Photo ID Amendment Sent To Minnesota Voters

Click video to watch voter photo ID debate in Senate

Since it is a constitutional amendment it does not require Governor Mark Dayton’s signature. He vetoed similar legislation last year because it did not have much bipartisan support.

Here is the proposed voter photo ID constitutional amendment and ballot question
Full video of the debate and other highlights: … Continue Reading

Voter Photo ID Could Be Struck From MN Ballot Says DFL

Click photo to hear why constitutional amendment could be removed from ballot

Simon says the question that would appear on the ballot makes no mention of provisional ballots or that the photo IDs need to be government issued. He says the court may also try to rewrite the language that would appear on the ballot.

“Radical rewrite” of Minnesota election laws … Continue Reading