ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Gov. Mark Dayton and Secretary of State Mark Ritchie on Thursday touted an alternative to a proposed constitutional amendment requiring a photo ID to vote, saying their idea is less likely to keep some people from voting and cheaper, too.
But their "electronic poll book" voter verification proposal was immediately batted down by a lead Republican on the amendment. Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer said the poll books might complement photo ID, but they can't be a substitute.
Kiffmeyer held Ritchie's job before he defeated her in the 2006 election. She has been shepherding the proposed amendment as a workaround to Dayton, who vetoed a bill last year that would have enacted the requirement via state law. Dayton can't block an amendment from going to voters.
Ritchie and Dayton touted bipartisan support for the poll books, which Ritchie said came from a panel of lawmakers from both parties that he assembled to look at election integrity issues.
"It's a better system, a better process," Dayton said. But there were no GOP lawmakers at the pair's news conference.
Under the proposal, poll workers would have access to the state's database of driver's license photos. The database would include photos of most of the roughly 84,000 Minnesotans who don't currently have photo IDs, since it retains the pictures of people who gave up their licenses within the last 12 years.
That would go a long way to protecting voting rights of senior citizens who no longer have photo IDs, Ritchie said.
For people not in the database, poll workers would take photos of each new voter right at the polling places and fasten the photo to a poll book.
Ritchie said he believed it would be less expensive than the likely consequence of the photo ID amendment, that the state or counties would be forced to issue photo IDs to all eligible voters that don't have one. He also said it would avoid the federal supervision of state elections that would likely accompany a photo ID requirement.
Despite the proposal, the amendment is moving quickly through the Legislature. A House committee was reviewing Kiffmeyer's bill on Thursday, and the full state Senate may vote on accompanying legislation as early as next week.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
Comments (17)
Add commentPhoto ID
How about automatically issuing a photo ID to a person when they surrender their drivers license. This would not solve the entire problem but it would be a step in the right direction.
acorn richie
maybe mark could use his experience to help with free id"s instead of signing up illegals to vote like his past job! if you can't figure out how to get a free id how can you vote?
Everyone should have an ID
Who doesn't have an ID? If you have no use for an ID and you can not afford an ID, then you probably do not have the effort or money to go to the polling place to vote. So after they can get someone to buy their ID then they will want someone to bring the ballots to their house because they can not afford to go vote. Maybe I should complain about how far it is for me to vote. Most people have their polls within 3 miles or/& have a cheap public transportation (bus, train). It's not fair that I have to drive and others are within walking distance. (Well, I love where I live- but we can all complain about something where we may have an expense where others do not.) Everyone over the age of 18 should a have an ID and pay for it themselves. I really do not think it is only useful for voting. It may even save you when a Police Officer takes you to the Cop Shop because you do not have an ID and they think you may be someone who has a warrant out for their arrest.
Cost
"For people not in the database, poll workers would take photos of each new voter right at the polling places and fasten the photo to a poll book." Can someone please enlighten me as to how this would be cheaper OR deter fraud???
The argument that 'poor people' wouldn't be able to vote is ludicrous. How do these people buy cigarettes, alcohol, lottery tickets, or cash checks? Don't even try and tell me they don't do any of those things. How much does a state ID cost? $20 at the very most? If someone truly is that poor there's a good chance their primary source of income comes from some kind of government program. Solution? Have welfare, social security, whomever is cutting checks to these people withhold the cost of the ID and send that money to the DMV to cover the cost of it.
Listen to your arguments
Seriously? whacking away at poor people, students and the elderly. Way to go Dispatch on-line reader comments who call yourselves Patriotic Americans.
This would also include anyone who moved and had not updated their DL or gotten a new utility bill. Married women who had not changed their names in time.
A copy of a birth certificate is $ 26.00. Copy of a marriage license $ 9.00. These would be needed just to GET a free ID. There is a law against a "poll tax" in our country. People do not have to PAY TO VOTE.
What about absentee voting? How will this work? Those serving in the military? How many of you have a DL where your photo and weight 'look like you?' Students who move a lot are OUT.
How would a picture ID prevent felons from voting? Voter impersonation is not the issue here.
This is not a simple issue. Please put some thought into the lawsuits brought about by people who have voted legally for years and are turned away. How would you feel?
The Left is getting
more shrill by the hour. They can feel their illegal voter base slipping away and panic is setting in. : )
Everyone should have an ID
In a recent election both my mother and daughter would have been unable to vote under the proposed plan. My mother planned ahead and got an ID card when she gave up her license. However, during a temporary issue with meds she wandered a bit and lost her purse, never to be returned even with her id in it. The same year my daughter moved on the first of November so didn't have her new DL yet at election time. Why should people in these situations pay the price for an extremely small number of people who violate the law when they sign the book at a polling place?
minnesnowda,
I would think that those serving in the military would have a military ID. Most students I know usually keep their parents address on their ID as their permanent address.
College students may vote at their college
So they would need a new photo id stating their college address instead of their driver's license which probably has their home address. And many move annually, so they would need to change it every time they move. They can also vote absentee using their home address. But not both places. That could be a problem that voter id does not correct.
And if your id is expired, such as a driver's license or military id, you are going to be refused.
You may just have
to deal with it lake. At least it will stop some of the 20 million illegals from voting.
retired2 you are right
The right wing pretends it's losers and slackers who will not qualify to vote without an ID. It could happen to any one of us if we sell our house and move around election time, or change our name.
What I want to know is if someone loses weight (or gains) and colors their hair and gets contacts...will they look like their picture? I had a friend who went out of the country with a Passport and nearly did not get back in because in ONE YEAR they had changed their looks radically. They got healthy and look great - but they did not look like their passport picture.
Illegals? do you mean immigrants? they rarely try to vote, they are trying to stay below the radar. Geesh.
come on minnesnowda get real
the illegals are trying to stay off the radar?
Remember when they all took to the streets in protest? Was that under the radar? You are dreaming again and its hilarious.
Illegals try to vote and sometimes succeed and sometimes get caught. Voter ID will stop that
There is a county in Ohio that has more registered voters than they have in population. 106% in fact. Ohio also leads the country in DEAD PEOPLE REGISTERED TO VOTE.
Voter id's are needed. When they are free why not. Of course it will cost the tax payers money, which will drive you liberals crazy (note the sarcasm lmao).
illlegal immigrants 'voting' show me the #'s
if this is the route you're taking
you've jumped the track of a valid argument for voter id
rotflmao
Why am I
picturing an ostrich when I read minnesnowda's words?
fair n balanced
He says: "why am I picturing an ostrich when I read minnesnowda's words?"
Because you are looking into a mirror. Gotta watch that multi-tasking.
Wow
I know you are but what am I? lmao
Really?
I think it's fair to say that the majority of people that vote only do so come presidential election time. That gives everyone FOUR YEARS NOTICE to get an ID.
Alright, how about this.. We forget picture IDs and just use fingerprints? Biometric scanners are quick, easy, and far less susceptible to fraud. What say you, bleeding heart liberals?