ST. PAUL (AP) — A proposed constitutional amendment to require a photo ID for Minnesota voters is part of a surge of similar legislation nationwide, much of it springing from a conservative organization that’s well-known to politicians but operates largely out of public view.
Six states enacted a strict photo ID requirement last year, and this year lawmakers in 31 other states are considering it. Minnesota’s Republican-controlled Legislature actually passed such a requirement last year but Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed it — prompting its backers to seek an amendment on the November ballot that Dayton cannot block.
The dispute over voter ID is deeply partisan. While Republicans cast it as a common-sense requirement that foils voter fraud, many Democrats say it would make voting more difficult for the poor, minorities, the elderly and disabled — constituencies that often favor them.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, or ALEC, has offered its ideas on voter ID for anyone interested in taking them. Established in 1973, the organization offers state lawmakers a menu of model bills on a range of issues: from business-friendly changes to the civil legal system to reducing regulations backed by environmentalists.
About 2,000 legislators around the country are ALEC members, joined by 300 corporate or private members. Companies such as Wal-Mart, AT&T and ExxonMobil pay between $7,000 and $25,000 to belong, and for various fees such companies can sit on task forces that draft model legislation.
ALEC approved its model policy for voter ID in 2009. Cara Sullivan, a legislative analyst, said in an email that it was “just one of hundreds of models” that ALEC had produced.
Sullivan wrote that ALEC has “never campaigned to promote these policies in the states.”
Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, is chief House author of the voter ID constitutional amendment as well as the bill Dayton vetoed last year. She’s also Minnesota state chairwoman for ALEC. A former Minnesota secretary of state, Kiffmeyer said she didn’t use the model bill for her legislation and never worked on the model with other ALEC members.
“I might have a novel brain in my head and have a unique thought,” Kiffmeyer said. “I am not dependent upon somebody else’s idea.”
ALEC provided a copy of its voter ID model bill to The Associated Press. Kiffmeyer’s 2011 bill is not identical, though there are several similar sections about ID requirements, counting provisional ballots and issuing a free ID to those over 18 who don’t have a valid driver’s license.
Tim Penny, a former Minnesota congressman who now teaches at the University of Minnesota, said it’s not uncommon for both conservative and liberal groups — whether industries, unions or advocacy groups — to offer prepared legislation to lawmakers from both political parties. He said, though, that he’s unaware of a direct liberal counterpart to ALEC, with its wide range of policy interests.
ALEC members are “not buying legislation because these ideas still have to be brought back to a legislature and be debated in a process,” said Penny, who served in Congress as a Democrat but later shifted to the state’s Independence Party. “If the ideas are objectionable, that ought to be discovered.”
Doug Chapin, an elections expert at the University of Minnesota, said a voter ID debate that had simmered for years got significant new traction after Republicans nationwide made large gains in legislatures in the 2010 elections. Chapin said there’s been large-scale sharing of ideas in these new majorities.
“It’s pretty clear that it’s becoming a common plank,” Chapin said. Republican legislators in 31 states “did not come up with this idea independently,” he said.
Five states passed a strict photo ID requirement last year: Wisconsin, Tennessee, Kansas, Texas and South Carolina. In each case, lawmakers integral to passing the bills have either confirmed or reported ALEC ties. A sixth state, Mississippi, enacted a constitutional amendment requiring photo ID in an initiative process begun by a lawmaker reported to have served on an ALEC task force.
Minnesota critics of photo ID point out there are few signs of widespread voter fraud in the state. The Minnesota County Attorneys Association said there were 157 total convictions of voter fraud from the state’s 2008 and 2010 elections. Joe Mansky, the Ramsey County elections manager, said the amendment would likely take extra time and money to implement and could prevent some from voting.
Democrats and liberal groups have called the push purely political.
“It’s a concerted effort to make it more difficult for people who vote for Democrats to get to the polls,” said Minnesota Rep. Ryan Winkler, DFL-Golden Valley.
Democrats complained of ALEC’s influence earlier this session. In February, Dayton vetoed four Republican-backed bills that would have made sweeping changes to the state’s civil legal system; he said then that three of the four bills were directly influenced by an ALEC manual. When asked about the claim, a Senate GOP spokesman said he could give no immediate comment.
Scott Hargarten, a 25-year-old organizer with Occupy Minneapolis, said his group plans to protest ALEC at the Capitol this month as part of a national action. Hargarten said ALEC became a focus of Occupy after recent news reports on the group and its work.
The voter ID issue “has this much momentum because it increases the powers of corporations, and the powers of the Republican party, at the expense of the citizen,” Hargarten said.
Comments (89)
Add commentWow, FnB, you're right! The
Wow, FnB, you're right!
The StarTrib article was there at 1pm, removed by 3pm.
The ACLU must have been embarrassed enough to have it completely purged.
I am surprised that the liberal press printed it in the first place.
Strib article
It is back on the Strib now, it was missing for a while.
Try Here
Try this link:
http://www.startribune.com/politics/statelocal/141590563.html
I see that they updated the
I see that they updated the article, adding 6 paragraphs to the original. Yet there remains no mention in the revised article of the woman's political leanings. Coincidence?!?
roving vans or similar for registration
Dear PolicyGradMPLS ,
Considering the fact that there are generally two years between elections (and occasionally less for special elections), I see no reason that EVERYONE can not be responsible and get to a place to register. The word 'responsibility' has been used a number of times in this very long and enlightening discussion. Is there any reason that we should not be responsible and ensure that we are rightly registered to vote during that period of time? I moved to this area in the summer of 2006. One of the things I did was to go to the city hall to register to vote ahead of time. Why? Because as a concerned and (I hope) responsible citizen I wanted to be registered in advance. "ANYONE" CAN DO THE SAME!!!
Where oh where
did the snowy lake go?
PolicyGradMPLS
I have to ask. Who did you debate for? As your user name and your vocabulary suggest, I am guessing you are an ex-policy debater?
Enjoyed your comments.
Old and Retired
Because as a concerned and (I hope) responsible citizen I wanted to be registered in advance. "ANYONE" CAN DO THE SAME!!!
You've forgotten about those in nursing homes who do not drive and are not otherwise mobile. They may be sharp in mind and very concerned about voting for candidates that will support issues that are important to them, but they have absolutely NO means to get to a government office to get an ID.
You've also forgotten about people with MS, are VERY obese, have auto-immune problems, have OCD, or other conditions that leave them bedridden or shut in. Again, sharp in mind and have a valid opinion about who gets in office, but are simply unable to go to the DMV to get an appropriate ID.
It's a miracle some of these people can get to the polls at all and that is only 1 outing. To make another could be an insurmountable obstacle. There are demographic groups for whom this would take away their ability to vote.
Now, if we want to say that only the upper to middle class, normal, nice to look at, healthy, and young to middle aged people are allowed to vote, then we probably could require ID.
@OkeyDokey and the other cast of characters
I haven't debated anyone before, but I was at a debate held by some group at the University of Minnesota, where I'm a grad student in public policy (the story of my user name).
oldandretired - I guess you don't believe that people have hardships, because you didn't when you registered. Were you retired in 2006? That would give you considerable free time with which to get to a building during office hours. Watch the League of Women Voters Minnesota documentary on their website for stories about how difficult it can be for some to travel to a government office for an id.
For me, all the Star Tribune article shows is that the system we have catches fraud, and prosecutes offenders as fit. Also, the fraud committed in the article was not involving cloaks and daggers, but a woman unaware of voting procedure. All this article demonstrates is that we need more civic education in schools and communities, so that people know you can't vote on behalf of your offspring. Not that there is widespread corruption of votes in a political party. Not that fraud is rampant. Not that there is some dark and unsavory plot to do x, y, or z. But that one time, one woman didn't take voting seriously enough, WAS CAUGHT BY SYSTEMS IN PLACE, and was prosecuted as seen fit. I have yet to see anything that shows me that a) it's super easy for everyone to get an ID and b) voter impersonation is rampant and the product of coordinated, dastardly deeds. I just can't bring myself to hate, degrade, or disregard a fellow Minnesotan because someone told me to. I need proof. And there is not adequate proof. It breaks my heart that some of you are so, not just willing, but almost salivating at the chance to restrict another citizen who has less opportunity than you based on flimsy rhetoric and a percentage of fraudulent votes so small, it cannot influence an outcome.
PolicyGrad
Once we start paying for their birth control, they should have enough left over to get some kind of ID or call a taxi so they can get to city hall, right?
tripwire3
You can stop contributing to the common good, a teensy fraction of which may or may not contribute to one or more of those having trouble getting ID, when they stop contributing to the common good so your kids can go to school, on roads, in buses, for free, which I assure costs a hell of a lot more than birth control. I'm personally comfortable donating my money to support public resources on which we all rely.
Plus, the men and elderly, plus some of the women who may be affected don't use birth control so...inadequate argument all around.
By PolicyGradMPLS | 03/06/12 - 08:03 pm
It appears to me that you have made some presumptions that may not be correct! You stated, "oldandretired - I guess you don't believe that people have hardships, because you didn't when you registered." There is an assumption in that statement that is in actuality incorrect. You call out specifically the League of Women Voters Minnesota documentary is if it is Gospel. A documentary or a poll can be generated or conducted with a certain amount of guile such that the guileless are shown the desired results if not 100% of the time then almost such. It seems to me that a good number of you are the guileless and may have been duped to believe what certain factions targeted.
You further state, "breaks my heart that some of you are so, not just willing, but almost salivating at the chance to restrict another citizen"! Again, I say that you have made some presumptions and in this case I say the presumption is demeaning and rediculous. My earlier statement was,""ANYONE" CAN DO THE SAME!!!" and I stick by that statement. There are any number of methods for disabled, aged and etc folks to get help to be registered to vote or to go to the doctor or to go shopping or whatever. We in this magnanimous country of ours have provided help for ALMOST everyone that needs it. I say almost because there is no way to guarantee it to everyone.
If you have not figured it out yet, I will tell you PolicyGradMPLS that I find it offensive that you (and otherw) make such incorrect assumptions relative to me and others. You should use some of that God given intelligence that has given you the ability to be a grad student and really think things over before speaking (or writing) out. Just think, maybe that is just what this Old and Retired person tries to do with the 70 some years of experience and education!
PolicyGrad
It was a metaphor and the point was that we will eventually end up paying for everything imaginable. When does it stop? And who decides what the common good is? Oldandretired is right. There is a difference between knowledge and wisdom.
Fair n Balanced
Spring break is coming up so after there Steven Covey refresher course they had to go down to Mujeres & hold hands. They hired that grad to take there place.
Okey- You have more excuses than I have ever heard in the 30+ years in the job that I do & believe me I've heard alot.
@PolicyGradMPLS
You say there are laws against dead people voting, no kidding there are, but it sure doesnt stop dead people from voting for Barrack Obama in the last election did it? For every dead person caught voting, how many you expect make it through?
The voter id law would stop that now wouldnt it? Of course some people would try to fraud the system. I say its time for capital punishment if you are caught willingly committing voter fraud. Now I am not talking about Granny Jones mistakenly putting down the wrong address, I am talking about Criminal Chris who votes at 10 precincts, one for himself and 9 for dead people.
You liberals are all for spending money until it stops you from cheating in some way. "Cheat the tax payer in anyway possible, spend spend spend spend...oh wait, what did you say, it will cause us not to cheat the election, NO WAY we cant spend anymore money, not on that unconstitutional event."
Its funny how you flip flop on issues.
smart judge tosses voter id law in Wisconsin
"A circuit court judge in Wisconsin has suspended the state's controversial voter ID law, arguing there is little proof it would prevent voter fraud as proponents say and that is likely to particularly affect minorities and elderly people who don't have a driver's license.
The judge in Wisconsin agreed with the Democratic rationale. Citing state data, he noted in his opinion that 80 percent of men overall and 81 percent of women in Wisconsin have driver's licenses, but only 45 percent of black men and 51 percent of black women have them.
The numbers were similar among Latinos in the state.
Twenty-three percent of voters over 65 also do not have licenses, the most common form of photo identification, according to the state."
Al Sharpton had an interview tonight regarding voter id. An Alabama proponent of voter id showed as evidence for it, three examples of voter id fraud which were not about voter id fraud at all. And as his face reddened, and he realized he was defending a problem that didn't exist with the facts he had, his face reddened and he got up prematurely and walked away. Bravo, Al!!
Do their job
Why can't legislators just do their work and stop putting everything to amendments?
Do their job
Why can't legislators just do their work and stop putting everything to amendments?
To answer your question Brainnews,
it appears that our legislators have done their jobs. They have passed laws that the governor has chosen to veto. Thus, it appears that they want to put the decision in the hands of the voter; you, me and others who are interested, to find if they or the governor is more correct concerning the desires of "we the people" !!!
Dirty little secret
The Republicans are mere trying to disenfranchise certain voters who are minorities and tend to vote democratic. That is the real deal going on with voter ID.
Dirty little secret
The Republicans are mere trying to disenfranchise certain voters who are minorities and tend to vote democratic. That is the real deal going on with voter ID.
Wow Brainnews, not only did it take you 2 weeks
to come up with that mind boggling statement, but you repeated yourself twice! No wonder you're a dem.
Pdnet15,
their motto is lie enough times and people believe the lie.
Computer error
Sorry, it was a computer error. Not trying to dominate this discussion.
And as far as the Governor's veto power, that is the system of checks and balances that is inherent to our political process. Thank g. we don't have a Walker and end up like Wis.
I do believe Tim Pawlenty exercised his veto power many times. So be it.
Brainnews' view expanded on the Governor's veto power
Understanding that our Governor Dayton has exercised his right to veto the bill, the legislators had to consider the electorate. Polls how that 80% or there abouts of Minnesotans favor the requirement of showing an official picture ID for voting. Thus it appears that the legislators are planning to give their electorate to the opportunity to overide the veto of the Democrat Governor if that is really their desire. I guess you could really call this "Checks and Balances"!!!
Polls?
would like to see them.
POLLS ON VOTER ID
Brainnews, IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE RESULTS OF SOME VOTER ID POLLS, you can do what I just did and GOOGLE "Minnesota voter ID polls" or if you want to check the one I just GOOGLED go to:
http://www.wewantvoterid.com/polling-results/
and you can see what the electorate has been telling the pollsters!
I would make the guess that considering the makeup of voters in Minnesota and that the vote in elections generally leans to the Democrat Party side this is something that is favored by more than just the "right wing Republcans" !!!
I did that
Thanks, I came up with the Star Tribune one. Perhaps they will iron out a fair voter ID bill that works for everyone.
By the way, using all caps is rude and akin to shouting.
akin to shouting
You are correct! It was my purpose to say that it is not difficult to find out information of this type. It is frustrating to hear (or read) comments which deny fact or state as fact non factual data. For example, "It's only you Republicans who want this voter ID law". I apologize as I did not mean to Yell at you!