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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

COMMENTARY

The cost of voter ID amendment may be higher than you think

Sen. Tom Bakk
Posted 10/4/12

Like you, I believe in election integrity, but setting up barriers between voters and the ballot box is not the way to improve our elections in Minnesota. By ending same day registration and absentee …

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COMMENTARY

The cost of voter ID amendment may be higher than you think

Posted

Like you, I believe in election integrity, but setting up barriers between voters and the ballot box is not the way to improve our elections in Minnesota. By ending same day registration and absentee voting as we know it, the voter restriction amendment does not protect our right to vote, it threatens it.

I recently visited the nursing home near my home in the city of Cook, and I discovered that only one of the 28 residents had a government-issued photo ID with their current nursing home address. Under the voter restriction amendment, 27 of these senior citizens would be forced to cast a “provisional ballot” that would not be counted until they can prove their change of address to the government. It’s outrageous that the amendment fails to protect the votes of our most vulnerable seniors.

The same problem applies to Minnesotans who go off to college or join the armed services. Most college students hold a driver’s license that does not match their campus address, and their student ID card may not qualify as “government-issued” under the amendment. Worse, since military IDs do not include addresses, Minnesotans serving in the armed forces could be subject to the same “provisional ballot.” There is absolutely no excuse for complicating the voting rights of our military men and women on active-duty.

Other Northern Minnesota voters will face similar obstacles. For instance, roughly 75 percent of Cook County residents living outside of Grand Marais rely on mail-in ballots to cast their votes. If passed, the proposed constitutional amendment would require those not voting in person to “be subject to substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification prior to a ballot being cast or counted.” That’s it—the amendment gives no further direction on what sort of hoops law-abiding citizens will have to jump though to mail in their ballots, but you can bet it will involve a pile of paperwork and a trip to wait in line at the Cook County Court House.

It should also concern taxpayers that the costs of implementing new statewide voting procedures, including the printing of “free” photo IDs, have not been accounted for. This makes for the worst kind of unfunded mandate, and estimates put the cost to state and local governments upwards of $50 million. No matter the price tag, with local governments already struggling with budget shortfalls, the bill will no doubt be passed along to property taxpayers.

Voting is the foundation of democracy. Minnesota must do everything in its power to protect the integrity of our elections and ensure that every vote is counted. But the voter restriction amendment is misleading, and Minnesotans deserve to know all of the consequences before we overhaul our voting system. The cost to taxpayers is too high; the risk to our democracy is too great.

Reject this amendment, and ensure your vote is counted in future elections.

Tom Bakk, DFL-Cook, is Minority Leader of the Minnesota Senate.