Election Integrity - Who Would be Against It?

This week I would like to spend some time discussing voter integrity. The current DFL majority does not seem to realize that without this key ingredient in our elections, we are undermining the entire premise on which this country was founded. There was an attempt by the minority party last session to bring changes to our elections laws that would assure elections are done without fraud and with the utmost integrity. All of the suggested changes were voted down.



Representative Tom Emmer(R-Dist 19B) introduced HF 57 Photo ID in committee, chaired by Representative Gene Pelowski(D-Dist 31A). He made many compelling arguments in favor of this bill. He stated that for the integrity of our elections to be preserved, we need to follow Indiana's lead in requiring a photo ID. The Supreme Court upheld this law saying that photo ID laws do not disenfranchise any voters and they do offer integrity and voter confidence in election outcomes. He and Representative Kiffmeyer(R-Dist 16B) stated that between 75-80% of citizens are in favor of photo ID. There is minimal cost that would be incurred to ensure that people at the poverty level and who are on welfare have a photo ID. To accomplish reaching all voters in Indiana for the Voter ID project, they did an extensive ad campaign, educating the people on how to obtain a photo ID. This could be done in Minnesota as well.



Representative Mark Buesgens(R-Dist 35B) countered Rep Paul Marquart's(D-Dist 9B) assertion that there is a lower Democrat turnout in states where photo ID is required. This is not accurate, as there was actually an increase from 6.1% to as high as 8.32% in some states. Democratic voters are certainly intelligent enough to be able to understand and grasp the concept of showing a photo ID at the voter both. If there is a lower voter turnout on the Democratic side when forced to show a photo ID, maybe it's a question of ethics, and not intelligence.



Representative Mary Kiffmeyer(R-Dist 16B) who was the former Secretary of State, quoted Mayor Andrew Young, at a national meeting of the Secretaries of State, "It is a disenfranchisement NOT to have photo identification."



After l-1/2 hour debate, the vote was taken and the results were completely partisan-all Republicans voted for and all Democrats against, hence the majority party voted down HF 57 in this committee. An amendment was later added to another bill and was voted down as well.

As a l5 year election judge, before my run for the House, I saw many many people bring in photo IDs and were distressed to learn that they were unnecessary to obtain a ballot. The current system of showing a utility bill for same day registration makes an undue hardship for election volunteers as well as voters, and it makes for long lines and cumbersome voting. Taking responsibility to exercise the right to vote should be taken very seriously. To take the time to register prior to the voting day and then showing an ID to prove who you are and where you live is not unreasonable. You cannot fly on an airplane without a photo ID. Why should you be allowed to vote without one?




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