It’s not that often that we get to peek into the future with a reasonable degree of probability to see what might happen.
We have House minority leader, Rep. Kurt Daudt (R), to thank for this opportunity when it comes to elections in Minnesota. Of course, this involves some assumptions, like Daudt’s party gaining control of the legislature and governor’s office this fall. However, that possibility is a realistic one, given the redistricting results.
On Jan. 31 Daudt dropped his Minnesota Elections Integrity Act into the hopper at the Capitol in St. Paul (H.F. 2732). No matter that the 2020 election was conducted successfully with complete integrity. Yet the bill proposes dramatic changes in how we conduct our elections. On Feb. 3 the bill gained an additional 29 co-authors, all of Daudt’s political party. We can safely conclude that this is not a bipartisan bill, but a matter of great interest to one party.
What might these legislators have in mind for Minnesota elections? Two of these ideas passed the Minnesota Senate in 2021. Voter I.D. and provisional balloting. No evidence of fraud in voting in Minnesota was presented to justify their passage. Under Daudt’s bill, an applicant for a voter I.D. card must provide proof of citizenship, a Social Security number, a current address, a description of the applicant and a photograph. Documentation of identity and residence is required. A duplicate card must be obtained if the holder changes his or her address. Of course, the voters of this state voted down Voter ID in 2012 in the form of a constitutional amendment. Not everyone got the message, apparently.
Minnesota’s successful and nationally recognized same day voter registration would be canceled. Instead, an unregistered voter may cast a provisional ballot which is not counted unless the voter appears at the county auditor or municipal clerk during the week following the election and process and proves his, her or their eligibility to vote. Should the inability to register at the polls not discourage a potential voter, having to show up again within the next week should do the trick. This is an unnecessary hurdle, sure to limit voting. Minnesota was exempted from a federal law requiring provisional ballots because same day registration was deemed to be a superior process. By the way, these unnecessary changes come at a cost to taxpayers.
These proposals fit comfortably in the nationwide undemocratic effort to suppress voting in our country. According to the Brennan Center for Justice, as of January, legislators in at least 27 states have introduced, pre-filed or carried more than 250 bills with restrictive voting provisions. Many of these bills also curtail access to mail voting and impose new or stricter voting requirements for in person voting or registration. Minnesota has joined this effort to limit voting, the crown jewel of our democracy.
You may think that this is merely the effort of the House minority that has little chance of passage. That’s likely true this year. But, the margins in the House and Senate are narrow and many think they will change this fall. A recent poll in the governor’s race found DFL Gov. Tim Walz with 43 percent and GOP challenger Scott Jensen with 40 percent. This fall’s election will have a major impact on whether Minnesota continues to be a state with a full democracy, or assumes a lesser status.
George A. Beck is a retired administrative law judge and former chair of the Minnesota Campaign Finance Board.
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