Judge halts Minnesota campaign finance law
WASHINGTON — A Minnesota judge has temporarily blocked a Minnesota campaign contribution law in light of a campaign finance ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court in April.
Effective Democracy
Effective Democracy is a year-long series of occasional reports supported by the Chicago-based Joyce Foundation, as part of a grant made to MinnPost and the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism. The Joyce Foundation’s grantmaking supports strong, thriving democracy, as well as research into Great Lakes protection and restoration, energy efficiency, teacher quality and early reading, workforce development, gun violence prevention, and diverse art for diverse audiences.
This coverage is made possible by a grant from The Joyce Foundation.
Corporations are people? DFL can’t even muster votes to protest
Democrats decry a Supreme Court resolution that lets corporations give more campaign cash, but a DFL state rep can’t get his colleagues to object.
From FDR to today’s GOP: How the meaning of ‘freedom’ changed
Franklin D. Roosevelt offered “four essential human freedoms,” but today’s right has been successful at justifying its policies on freedom grounds.
Campaign finance lawsuits in Minnesota and other states take aim at contribution limits
WASHINGTON — Challenges to campaign finance laws have increased since conservative justices took the U.S. Supreme Court in a new direction on the issue.
For Minnesota’s maxed-out donors, court ruling gives new leeway
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court’s lifting of the $117,000 cap for donations may lead to more clout for an elite group of political funders.
Minnesota election laws: Bipartisan support emerges for some fine-tuning
There’s interest in broader e-pollbook use and tech upgrades for voter records, but differences remain over online voter registration.
E-pollbook legislation likely, though enthusiasm has faded a bit
With another study ahead, it appears statewide use of the voting technology won’t be considered for at least another year.
Minnesota’s legislative process: An open-but-shut case
Efforts to increase transparency in the early 1970s have been slip-sliding away.
Why DFL is (somewhat secretly) divided over ranked-choice voting
The DFL “establishment” crowd thinks RCV is bad for the party, and some think it’s bad for the power of the establishment within the DFL.
Fixing gridlock: A daring proposal to change how we elect members of Congress
Under this proposal, most single-member congressional districts to which we are accustomed would go away.
Should Minnesota adopt electronic pollbooks for elections?
Many consider them a big step forward, but questions remain. A state task force is investigating potential legislation.
Some ranked-choice opponents troubled by loss of nonpartisan primary
Todd Rapp, for example, believes that to really get the best kind of mandate to govern, the process has to end with voters choosing between only two finalists.
Ranked-choice-voting reality: Theoretical ‘perfect case’ doesn’t happen
A crowded field of Minneapolis candidates and only three ranked choices make it likely the new mayor won’t garner a majority of all votes cast.
Is Minnesota on the brink of ultra-expensive, partisan judicial elections?
Advocates worry that judicial elections here, as in several other states, could start resembling political campaigns with big-money and special-interest influence.
Confused about ranked-choice voting? Let’s sort it out
Today MinnPost kicks off an occasional series exploring RCV, its history, arguments for and against and how it is affecting the Minneapolis mayoral race.
It’s party time: Minnesota lawmakers change key ethics rules
The change in the law will once again permit lavish legislative parties and receptions paid for by special-interest groups.
Recent legal, political changes could endanger Minnesota’s highly regarded judicial selection system
While the state so far has avoided the expensive, highly politicized judicial elections that have plagued other states, we may not stay so lucky for long.
Most states have both early and no-excuse absentee balloting, but not Minnesota
Voting-rights advocates are happy with Minnesota’s expansion of absentee balloting but disappointed that the Legislature failed to approve early voting.
