In the midst of an ongoing battle between Senate hopefuls Norm Coleman and Al Franken, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie has released a proposal that he hopes will reform the election process in Minnesota.
According to the proposal, there are several changes regarding election recounts. These changes require candidates to officially request a recount paid for at the government's expense, require candidate representatives to be residents of MN, and allows the recount official to remove anyone who obstructs or interferes with the recount. The measure would also lower the margin for automatic recounts from one half percent to one quarter percent. This rule wouldn't have affected the Coleman/Franken recount as that race was closer than 1% on election day.
There are several provisions for absentee ballots including the requirement of all absentee ballots to be processed centrally by an "Absentee Ballot Board." The hope is this step will help to lessen the potential for human error in hand-counting as well as reduce the need to transport ballots to multiple locations.
These aren't surprising moves by Ritchie in light of the fact that his office and several precincts have taken a good deal of heat from the media regarding ballots being left in a car and other human error-related problems from the latest election. To see the proposal in its entirety, click here. www.sos.state.mn.us/home/index.asp
Though few will dispute the need for election reform in Minnesota, one issue Secretary Ritchie fails to address is the massive potential for voter fraud due to lack of registration and no requirement for photo I.D. Minnesota is one of just 7 states that do not require preregistration to cast a ballot in any local or national election. There is currently no central voter database and no communication between precincts to eliminate duplicate ballots. In other words, it is relatively easy to cast ballots at multiple precincts without risk of being caught and charged with voter fraud.
Ritchie's proposal allows citizens to register, check their registration status, and check absentee ballot status online. With the ability to maintain records electronically, the voting system in Minnesota can easily be enhanced to include cross-checking of registered voters to ensure duplicate voting is virtually eliminated.
On a much larger scale, there is no communication whatsoever between states regarding national elections. This allows for a completely unregulated voting process and a huge potential for voter fraud. Take college students for example. Many students have a permanent address in another state while living on campus during the school year. In an effort to increase voter turnout in 2008, many states and their candidates sent reminders to the permanent addresses of college students. A simple reply in a prepaid envelope and the student was then sent an absentee ballot. On Nov. 4, 2008, thousands of college students voted for the first time in Minnesota. There was absolutely no way to determine if these students had previously voted in their home towns via absentee ballot. Ritchie's plan could not begin to fix this problem if he wanted to.
Illegal immigrants also pose a threat to an accurate voting system. If anyone with or without identification can walk into a voting precinct with nothing more than a neighbor to vouch for their legal status, the potential for fraud is enormous. The law in Minnesota allows for just such a process. Preregistration and photo id can reduce and possibly eradicate illegal voting practices.
43 states have registration-required voting and verify photo I.D. before a ballot can be cast. Though Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is on the right track in recognizing the need for voter reform, his plan only scratches the surface. Fraud is a dangerous problem that threatens the democratic process of choosing our leaders and should be taken seriously. We need Mr. Ritchie to learn from other states with more accurate voting systems and lead the way for national voter reform.
Comments
Requiring voter ID only disenfranchises voters. Are you saying that voting is only every citizens right if and only if they have an ID card? One of the things we've gotten out of this recount process is a confirmation that there has been no attempt at widespread voter fraud in Minnesota. Why then, would a conservative like yourself want more government regulation for a non-existent problem? It seems to run in contrast to your party's philosophy. Unless of course, you want to disenfranchise Democrat voters like college students and immigrants (whom conservatives usually automatically assume are illegals.) There are an estimated 120,000 illegal immigrants in Minnesota's 5 million person population (approx. 2%) and there hasn't been any major reports of illegal immigrants trying to register to vote and then actually go vote, which would obviously jeopardize their cover and get them deported. So what's the point?
How does voter ID disenfranchise a legal voter? That argument holds no weight being that if there is nothing to hide, they wouldn't be disenfranchised. As a Poll Challenger in the last election, I saw first-hand hundreds of suspect voters. Under MN law, these voters do not need to show ID to prove they are who they say they are and there is no cross-check process to ensure they did't already vote in another precinct in MN or any other state. The college student example is just that, an example. There are hundreds more examples, just google voter fraud.
As for the illegal immigrants, I agree that it is likely not a major problem in our state. The recount process though, could not possibly identify illegal immigrants who vote because identities are not associated with ballots, maintaining a secret ballot process. It is however an enormous problem in CA, NM, FL & TX. All of these states have rejected registration & ballots based on non-citizen status. Unfortunately, without more regulation, these problems all over the country will continue to grow until we have a universal voting system. Personally, I not only want every legal vote to count, I believe it is the duty of every citizen to participate in local, state and national elections. I am conservative, and I am also fair. Common sense tells us that a universal voting system will eliminate fraud. For the record, it has traditionally been democrats who oppose national government regulation on the voting process.
How does voter ID disenfranchise a legal voter? That argument holds no weight being that if there is nothing to hide, they wouldn't be disenfranchised. As a Poll Challenger in the last election, I saw first-hand hundreds of suspect voters. Under MN law, these voters do not need to show ID to prove they are who they say they are and there is no cross-check process to ensure they did't already vote in another precinct in MN or any other state. The college student example is just that, an example. There are hundreds more examples, just google voter fraud.
As for the illegal immigrants, I agree that it is likely not a major problem in our state. The recount process though, could not possibly identify illegal immigrants who vote because identities are not associated with ballots, maintaining a secret ballot process. It is however an enormous problem in CA, NM, FL & TX. All of these states have rejected registration & ballots based on non-citizen status. Unfortunately, without more regulation, these problems all over the country will continue to grow until we have a universal voting system. Personally, I not only want every legal vote to count, I believe it is the duty of every citizen to participate in local, state and national elections. I am conservative, and I am also fair. Common sense tells us that a universal voting system will eliminate fraud. For the record, it has traditionally been democrats who oppose national government regulation on the voting process.
Massive Voter fraud from Acorn!!!
Only verified U.S Citizens should be able to Vote.
Complete Annual voting pool verifications clean out fraud/mistakes.
Voter ID only disenfranchise illegal aliens!!!!!
U.S Citizens are safe..both .poor & rich..
But as of right now the voter pool is full of illegals and voter fraud...and the Government officials want it that way....
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