The Minnesota House of Representatives is seeking changes to state election laws that opponents say make it harder, not easier, to register and vote this November.
The extensive changes ? approved April 7 by the House as part of a state government finance bill ? theoretically bring Minnesota law into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.
That federal law, in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election fiasco in Florida, attempts to help states update voting equipment and election procedures. But states get the federal money only if they establish consistent and rigorous standards in registering voters.
Union organizers and Twin Cities community groups say the House legislation actually goes beyond the stricter federal requirements. Further, they say, the House legislation makes problems with the federal law worse. Especially affected are new voters and citizens who register as part of a voter registration drive ? such as at a union meeting ? rather in person at a government office.
Unions are among those working with state legislators to create alternative legislation based on principles that they?re calling a ?voter?s bill of rights? to support robust voter participation.
Two issues at center of dispute
The complexities of the federal law already are creating contrasting interpretations among county and state elections officials on exactly how much and what kind of identification voters must provide in order for their registration to be valid.
?We have a laundry list of community organizations that have gotten very conflicting messages,? says C. Scott Cooper, executive director of Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action. MAPA is working with nonprofit and grassroots organizations to increase voter registration, especially among groups that traditionally have low voter turnout. ?It seems to all of us that the job of the secretary of state is to enfranchise as many people as possible.?
After all, Minnesota is a state that traditionally has made it easier to vote, allowing registration at the polls on Election Day, registration when voters renew their drivers license, and allowing voters paid time off to vote on the morning of elections.
?But every one of the changes,? Cooper says of the new proposals, ?is going in the opposite direction and making it more difficult to register voters.?
Most of the confusion surrounds two issues:
? New requirements for voters who register by mail.
? New requirements for voters who have never voted in a federal election. This includes voters who may have registered in 2003, voted in a municipal or school district election, but never voted in an election for president or Congress (see stories elsewhere on page). The situation is complicated further because Minnesota is operating under state and federal laws that don?t mesh.
Mail registration requires additional ID
The new federal law, known as HAVA, says voters registering by mail not only must provide the same information required of all new voters, but also must submit a photocopy of their drivers license or other acceptable ID. If they fail to do so, their registration is classified as ?deficient? or ?incomplete.? That means they won?t be allowed to vote until they provide the necessary identification ? either before the election or at their polling place.
Of course, voters may not know that, because the state?s new voter registration form does not tell them to send identification if they register by mail.
Secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer, however, says these voters will receive a postcard before the election telling them what kind of identification they need to bring to the polling place.
?If you?re registering in person, it?s not an issue at all,? Kiffmeyer says.
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| Joe Mansky, Ramsey County elections manager, says legislation passed by the Minnesota House ?would make this process a whole lot more difficult for a whole lot more people than it is now.? Union Advocate photo |
House legislation affects voter drives
The Republican-sponsored legislation in the Minnesota House expands the definition of mail registration to add voters who sign up at the State Fair, at a union meeting, at their church or school, or when a canvasser knocks on their door. In other words, all voters who do not register in person at a government office will have to produce a required ID beforehand or at the polling place.
That creates problems for voter registration campaigns. ?We can?t carry a copy machine around with us,? notes MAPA?s Cooper.
?It would make this process a whole lot more difficult for a whole lot more people than it is now,? says Joe Mansky, elections manager for Ramsey County.
24,000 and counting
Minnesota ACORN knows well the scope of the potential problem. It has registered 24,000 new voters since last year, says head organizer Becky Gomer. It hopes to register a similar number between now and November.
Most of those new voters are ?low- to moderate-income individuals, communities of color, communities that don?t typically vote in large numbers,? Gomer says. If the Republican-sponsored legislation becomes law, however, nearly all of these new voters could have their registration challenged.
Kiffmeyer says the issue is being overblown. Requiring extra identification is no different than if a voter takes advantage of Minnesota?s same-day registration requirement, she says. ?Bringing extra identification is always best. If you bring something extra and you don?t need it, fine.?
Conflicting messages
What is clear is that different elections officials are interpreting HAVA in conflicting ways.
?It doesn?t help us if we hear one thing from one place another thing from another place,? Gomer says.
?There?s a complete difference of opinions among counties, and between them and the secretary of state?s office,? Cooper says. ?It?s very messy.?
For example, some counties were requiring unions and community groups to produce copies of IDs for individuals they had signed up. Kiffmeyer?s office told the counties to stop.
Counties can request a photocopy, Kiffmeyer says, or voters can volunteer to provide it but counties can?t require it. That could change, of course, if the Minnesota House legislation actually becomes law.
Still, voters who register by mail, but don?t produce a photocopy of a required ID before the election, will have to do so at the polling place, Kiffmeyer says.
Follow that?
Other discrepancies
The Advocate discovered other discrepancies in information being supplied by Kiffmeyer?s office and by individual counties. For example, two county elections officials say that if cross-referencing a new voter?s drivers license number verifies the identity of the voter, the voter will not have to produce an ID at the polling place.
Not so, Kiffmeyer says. ?If you go through the verification process, it does not exempt you from providing a photo ID.?
Similarly, some county officials say that voters who registered in 2003 are not affected by HAVA?s requirements, even if they have not previously voted in a federal election. Not so, Kiffmeyer says again. ?If you?ve voted in a municipal election, but haven?t had a federal election yet, you would be required to show a photo ID.?
In several other examples, county officials say they are waiting for ?guidance? or ?a specific answer? from Kiffmeyer?s office on how to handle the situation.
Kiffmeyer has final authority
Kiffmeyer expressed frustration about the ongoing confusion: ?I continue to send out memos and instructions. [Counties] do not have the authority to have their own interpretation, to override my office.?
HAVA grants final authority to the state?s chief elections official, which in Minnesota is the secretary of state.
?When push comes to shove, they need to follow what the secretary of state?s office puts out,? Kiffmeyer says.
?This is a presidential election year,? says Kevin Boyle, elections supervisor for Dakota County. ?I have confidence this will be worked out.?
MAPA?s Cooper is not as confident. ?We?re headed in the direction of a Florida-type crisis if we don?t have leadership and clarity on how all this is going to be resolved,? he says.
Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org
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The Minnesota House of Representatives is seeking changes to state election laws that opponents say make it harder, not easier, to register and vote this November.
The extensive changes ? approved April 7 by the House as part of a state government finance bill ? theoretically bring Minnesota law into compliance with the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.
That federal law, in the aftermath of the 2000 presidential election fiasco in Florida, attempts to help states update voting equipment and election procedures. But states get the federal money only if they establish consistent and rigorous standards in registering voters.
Union organizers and Twin Cities community groups say the House legislation actually goes beyond the stricter federal requirements. Further, they say, the House legislation makes problems with the federal law worse. Especially affected are new voters and citizens who register as part of a voter registration drive ? such as at a union meeting ? rather in person at a government office.
Unions are among those working with state legislators to create alternative legislation based on principles that they?re calling a ?voter?s bill of rights? to support robust voter participation.
Two issues at center of dispute
The complexities of the federal law already are creating contrasting interpretations among county and state elections officials on exactly how much and what kind of identification voters must provide in order for their registration to be valid.
?We have a laundry list of community organizations that have gotten very conflicting messages,? says C. Scott Cooper, executive director of Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action. MAPA is working with nonprofit and grassroots organizations to increase voter registration, especially among groups that traditionally have low voter turnout. ?It seems to all of us that the job of the secretary of state is to enfranchise as many people as possible.?
After all, Minnesota is a state that traditionally has made it easier to vote, allowing registration at the polls on Election Day, registration when voters renew their drivers license, and allowing voters paid time off to vote on the morning of elections.
?But every one of the changes,? Cooper says of the new proposals, ?is going in the opposite direction and making it more difficult to register voters.?
Most of the confusion surrounds two issues:
? New requirements for voters who register by mail.
? New requirements for voters who have never voted in a federal election. This includes voters who may have registered in 2003, voted in a municipal or school district election, but never voted in an election for president or Congress (see stories elsewhere on page). The situation is complicated further because Minnesota is operating under state and federal laws that don?t mesh.
Mail registration requires additional ID
The new federal law, known as HAVA, says voters registering by mail not only must provide the same information required of all new voters, but also must submit a photocopy of their drivers license or other acceptable ID. If they fail to do so, their registration is classified as ?deficient? or ?incomplete.? That means they won?t be allowed to vote until they provide the necessary identification ? either before the election or at their polling place.
Of course, voters may not know that, because the state?s new voter registration form does not tell them to send identification if they register by mail.
Secretary of state Mary Kiffmeyer, however, says these voters will receive a postcard before the election telling them what kind of identification they need to bring to the polling place.
?If you?re registering in person, it?s not an issue at all,? Kiffmeyer says.
|
| Joe Mansky, Ramsey County elections manager, says legislation passed by the Minnesota House ?would make this process a whole lot more difficult for a whole lot more people than it is now.? Union Advocate photo |
House legislation affects voter drives
The Republican-sponsored legislation in the Minnesota House expands the definition of mail registration to add voters who sign up at the State Fair, at a union meeting, at their church or school, or when a canvasser knocks on their door. In other words, all voters who do not register in person at a government office will have to produce a required ID beforehand or at the polling place.
That creates problems for voter registration campaigns. ?We can?t carry a copy machine around with us,? notes MAPA?s Cooper.
?It would make this process a whole lot more difficult for a whole lot more people than it is now,? says Joe Mansky, elections manager for Ramsey County.
24,000 and counting
Minnesota ACORN knows well the scope of the potential problem. It has registered 24,000 new voters since last year, says head organizer Becky Gomer. It hopes to register a similar number between now and November.
Most of those new voters are ?low- to moderate-income individuals, communities of color, communities that don?t typically vote in large numbers,? Gomer says. If the Republican-sponsored legislation becomes law, however, nearly all of these new voters could have their registration challenged.
Kiffmeyer says the issue is being overblown. Requiring extra identification is no different than if a voter takes advantage of Minnesota?s same-day registration requirement, she says. ?Bringing extra identification is always best. If you bring something extra and you don?t need it, fine.?
Conflicting messages
What is clear is that different elections officials are interpreting HAVA in conflicting ways.
?It doesn?t help us if we hear one thing from one place another thing from another place,? Gomer says.
?There?s a complete difference of opinions among counties, and between them and the secretary of state?s office,? Cooper says. ?It?s very messy.?
For example, some counties were requiring unions and community groups to produce copies of IDs for individuals they had signed up. Kiffmeyer?s office told the counties to stop.
Counties can request a photocopy, Kiffmeyer says, or voters can volunteer to provide it but counties can?t require it. That could change, of course, if the Minnesota House legislation actually becomes law.
Still, voters who register by mail, but don?t produce a photocopy of a required ID before the election, will have to do so at the polling place, Kiffmeyer says.
Follow that?
Other discrepancies
The Advocate discovered other discrepancies in information being supplied by Kiffmeyer?s office and by individual counties. For example, two county elections officials say that if cross-referencing a new voter?s drivers license number verifies the identity of the voter, the voter will not have to produce an ID at the polling place.
Not so, Kiffmeyer says. ?If you go through the verification process, it does not exempt you from providing a photo ID.?
Similarly, some county officials say that voters who registered in 2003 are not affected by HAVA?s requirements, even if they have not previously voted in a federal election. Not so, Kiffmeyer says again. ?If you?ve voted in a municipal election, but haven?t had a federal election yet, you would be required to show a photo ID.?
In several other examples, county officials say they are waiting for ?guidance? or ?a specific answer? from Kiffmeyer?s office on how to handle the situation.
Kiffmeyer has final authority
Kiffmeyer expressed frustration about the ongoing confusion: ?I continue to send out memos and instructions. [Counties] do not have the authority to have their own interpretation, to override my office.?
HAVA grants final authority to the state?s chief elections official, which in Minnesota is the secretary of state.
?When push comes to shove, they need to follow what the secretary of state?s office puts out,? Kiffmeyer says.
?This is a presidential election year,? says Kevin Boyle, elections supervisor for Dakota County. ?I have confidence this will be worked out.?
MAPA?s Cooper is not as confident. ?We?re headed in the direction of a Florida-type crisis if we don?t have leadership and clarity on how all this is going to be resolved,? he says.
Adapted from The Union Advocate, the official newspaper of the St. Paul Trades and Labor Assembly. E-mail The Advocate at: advocate@mtn.org