It was a ceremonial gesture only, but this morning Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the Voter ID bill approved last week by the Republican-led Legislature.
The bill calls for a statewide vote in November on a proposed constitutional amendment that, if approved, will require all voters to show state-approved photo IDs.
But the measure will be on the November ballot anyway. The governor’s veto can’t keep amendments passed by the Legislature off the ballot, which is why the Republican majority went that route.
Polls show that Minnesotans like the Voter ID idea, because, hey, who doesn’t want elections decided by legal voters.
But opponents say it will make voting more difficult for those who don’t have the right ID, such as seniors who no longer drive, college students, soldiers overseas and homeless people. And they argue that there’s no evidence that voter fraud is a big problem, and that there are laws in place already.
In a press conference where he announced the veto, Dayton said the measure was not passed with bipartisan support, as he believes voting measures should be.
Dayton also said the amendment would end same-day voter registration and restrict absentee voting.
He accused Republicans of passing bills that poll well, to enhance their electability in November.
And in his veto message [PDF], Dayton said:
“This amendmentis a provervial wolf in sheep’s clothing. It goes far beyond its intention to require Photo IDs. Instead, it dismantles Minnesota’s Best-in-the-Nation election system.”
He said he’ll campaign this fall against both the Voter ID amendment and the proposed constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
“Voter i.d.” sounds so reasonable
that many voters do not realize that it is not just any government-issued (or approved) i.d. they would need to present at their voting place. It will be a special i.d. for voting only and those who want one will have to purchase and present a government-issued birth certificate or perhaps passport in order to get the voter i.d. card. I’m not sure of the current price of a birth certificate, but a passport cost $100 a few years ago.
Mary Kiffmeyer is fond of pointing out that those who cannot afford the $10 voter i.d. will get it for free. She does not mention the other, much more expensive supporting document(s) necessary for the $10 card to be issued.
Voter suppression is the aim. And is aimed at disenfranchising poor, elderly, disabled, student and racial/ethnic minority Minnesotans who often vote for Democrats.
Public education is very much in order lest voters be convinced these i.d. cards are not a big deal.
Voter ID *IS* reasonable
Nice FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt) attack.
You can’t cash a check with out ID. You can’t get on a plane with out ID, You can’t get a credit card with out ID. You can’t get a bank account with out ID. You can’t do anything with out ID… but you don’t see anybody claiming disenfranchisement or suppression about those things.
The Indiana and Georgia Voter ID laws have not only been upheld by the supreme court, but praised it. They also show a stronger minority turn out since their Voter ID was put in place than before.
The aim is stopping the “At the last minute we found a trunk full of ballots and they are all for Person X… Person X wins the election!!!!” (Funny how many times Person X is a democrat.) And stop Zombies from voting. It’s alarming on how many recently deceased folks get out of the grave and vote… The aim is to prove the person who is voting, is the person they claim to be, and they are voting in the right place.
Hey Remember last election when that college kid was vouching for anybody who would vote democrat, even if he didn’t know them, or if they had the right to vote or not? He was brought up on charges for fraud… but the damage was done. Minnesota has the most lax voter requirements out there and it’s been exploited long enough!
Mr. Saxton
Please see the report by the Brennan Center for Justice describing the five million or so voters who will most likely be disenfranchised nationally by the new voter i.d. laws now being pushed by ALEC legislative members all around the country.
By the way, the only instance of Zombie voting proved recently (in New Hampshire, I believe) was carried out by the guy who makes phony videos to smear organizations the Right doesn’t like — such as ACORN, which existed to help poor people find housing and to participate in the democracy of which they are members.
And the most recent “oh, look, here are thousands more ballots” I can recall are the 13,000 or 14,000 from one Milwaukee suburb found in her laptop by the Republican woman responsible for reporting precinct results in Wisconsin a couple of years ago.
Zombies everywhere…
You do know that 2812 “Dead” People Voted in 2008 right here in Minnesota right?
And remember the trunk full of ballots that showed up last minute to help Franken win? Yeah, I remember that too.
Writer from U of M J School gets job anyway
At what point do jschoolers learn that’s ok to pick sides in a debate? Lovely headline. Mustve graduated cum laude from the U. Oh why curse the wind…
So Tim Tebow, Tom Brady and Eric Holder can casually stroll in and vote in the person of some “punk” who actually gets j school right. Oh wait he edits videos and NBC doesn’t. Riiiight.
No possibility for fraud here, when entire industries have sprung up to defend against identity fraud. So what makes a vote so value-less compared to driving, a beer, or an airplane ticket that we don’t care to protect the integrity of the vote? What separates us from sham 3rd world elections without the assurance of integrity?
Nothing, that’s how low the standard has become.
Who doesn’t doubt that political machines can’t hijack ballot boxes with such abysmally low standards. Who doubts there aren’t powerful, motivated interests intent on doing just that? At least Iraq has blue ink to prevent repeat voting, we don’t even have that! I guess it ain’t wrong when its your machine that’s doing it? The Mob, the Gestoppo, and Big brother aren’t so scary when you’re on thier side. Don’t worry, a friendly thinktank sent out a memo claiming that a gadzillion people will be disenfranchised and will need super secret I’d’s you can only get if your white if its passed. If it waddles and quacks like a machine, it must be the Minnesota DFL.
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