Republicans in the Minnesota House of Representatives indicated they have no interest in shifting the state to an all vote-by-mail system as a way of assuring that the 2020 primary and general election won’t be disrupted by COVID-19.
That opposition — expressed during a meeting of the House Elections Subcommittee Wednesday — suggests that the party will block any substantial changes. While some said they favored promoting more use of existing absentee and early voting options, their fear of voter fraud has made GOP lawmakers a “no” on vote-by-mail.
That position matches national GOP stance against expanding vote-by-mail, opposition that includes President Trump, despite the fact that three of the five states that already have vote-by-mail — Washington, Oregon, Hawaii, Utah and Colorado — have Republicans as their chief election officer, and that Washington’s Kym Wyman is a national leader in the vote-by-mail movement.
The $2.2 trillion federal COVID-19 stimulus bill included $400 million for the states to respond to challenges to elections caused by the virus, though language pushed by Sen. Amy Klobuchar and others to direct that money to vote by mail was not included in the package.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon has backed a bill that would permit the shift to all vote-by-mail during periods of peacetime emergency due to infectious disease outbreaks. That would mean that every voter in Minnesota, not just the 130,000 who currently get a mail ballot every election because they live in small towns and townships with fewer than 400 voters, would receive a ballot in the mail.
While there would still be some voting centers open on election day for same-day registration or for voters who need assistance voting, there would be far fewer physical polling locations than the 3,000 that the state currently uses. About 3 million Minnesotans voted in person, either via early voting or on election day, in recent elections.
[image_credit]MinnPost photo by Greta Kaul[/image_credit][image_caption]Secretary of State Steve Simon[/image_caption]
Simon, along with local elections officials from across the state, told committee members Wednesday they do not think they will be able to staff the state’s current voting system if COVID-19 is still restricting public gatherings. The suggestion shared by some Republicans on the committee — that the state double the number of polling places to make each less crowded — would only exacerbate the staffing shortages they anticipate, the election officials said. Counties also lack the voting equipment that would be needed for new polling places.
“Until we are told otherwise, we need to treat elections in Minnesota as a public health issue,” Simon told the committee, which met by teleconference. “Because if we guess right now and guess that the crisis will go past us and that it will be over by August or there won’t be a wave two in November and if we guess wrong, we’re in for a real disaster of an election season.”
The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is suggesting that states move toward mail voting to reduce contact among voters, poll workers and the sharing of pens and other equipment. Simon said that the average polling place in Minnesota sees 1,000 voters over 13 hours, so even doubling the number of polling places only reduces that average to 500 people. He also said that poll workers, who tend to be older, would be especially vulnerable to coronavirus.
“We can spend some of this (federal ) money on hand sanitizers and wiping down tables and all the rest and that might, on the margins, help people feel a little more comfortable,” he said. “But I don’t think we’re kidding anyone that if we spend a bunch of money on hand sanitizers and disposable pens that people are going to be comfortable en masse to the tune of millions going to polling places.”
In his remarks, Simon also referenced the Tuesday one-day session of the Legislature, during which dozens of lawmakers voted remotely to avoid unnecessary contact with each other. “That was the right call,” he said. “But you can understand how it might be reasonable for a Minnesotan to ask if legislators have given themselves the privilege of not co-mingling with a few dozen colleagues, doesn’t it stand to reason to have a discussion for them to do the same.”
Deborah Erickson, the administrative services director for Crow Wing County and the chair of the elections committee of the Minnesota Association of County Officials, supported the bill. She said it is unlikely counties can double their polling places, double their equipment and double their staffing to achieve less crowding at the polls. “A significant number of our judges are in at-risk populations and we already have difficulty finding enough election judges,” Erickson said.
Republicans, both on and off the committee, were having none of it.
“I am diametrically opposed to the language that we’ve got before us,” said Rep. Jim Nash, R-Waconia, who is the ranking Republican on the elections subcommittee. “I don’t think you’re gonna find a lot of support coming out of the GOP for this.”
Nash said the response that could get bipartisan support would be expanding the use by voters of no-excuse absentee voting and in-person early voting. He also suggested increasing the number of polling places and perhaps installing plexiglass shields for poll workers similar to those being used in some grocery stores.
[image_caption]House Deputy Minority Leader Anne Neu[/image_caption]
“By all accounts, this is slowing right now and things are trending in the right direction,” said Rep. Anne Neu, R-North Branch, of the COVID-19 crisis. Yet the bill would set May 1 as the date when a switch to vote-by-mail would be triggered.
Susan Shogren Smith, an elections attorney who identified herself as a Republican, said she thinks that “by November this crisis will hopefully not be a crisis anymore. Many people in Minnesota will already have been exposed and probably have immunity,”she said. “We have almost seven months to get to that point.”
She also said Simon’s proposal only exacerbates distrust of the secretary of state by many Republicans, a claim that Nash agreed with.
Two reactions from outside the committee illustrated how unlikely any change will win GOP support. Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer, the Big Lake Republican who chairs the Senate committee that oversees election law, said less sweeping changes could be done.
“Thankfully, Minnesota already has one of the most robust no-excuse absentee ballot request processes in the country,” said Kiffmeyer, a former secretary of state, suggesting that the state move up its application process for those ballots. She also agreed that setting up polling places in places where elderly people and other vulnerable populations live would be wise.
“I believe Minnesota can safely do both large-scale absentee voting and election day voting at polling locations with current law and some bi-partisan adjustments where needed,” Kiffmeyer said.
State GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan was more harsh in her assessment of the vote-by-mail proposal. “As our nation grapples with a new normal filled with stress, anxiety and illness, Secretary of State Steven Simon’s push to change our voting system just adds to the chaos,” Carnahan said. “Attempting to change a law now for elections that are months away is extremely premature and a disappointing power grab by the Democrats at a time of extreme unease.”
Voter suppression is a Republican policy. As our president clearly admitted on Fox News last week. They cannot win without it.
Agree. Disappointing that making voting easy…the pillar of democracy…that repubs oppose. Of course, what’s most interesting is how repubs talk about cheating in the voting process, while they are the ones caught cheating as we saw in NC, as well as their constant efforts to make voting difficult in areas that vote Dem, they gerrymander…and this horrific obstruction of anti-democracy behaviors goes on and on.
They could support policies that the people want, but instead choose the anti-democracy policies. Such is republicanism today.
Being Conservative/Republican means projecting you faults onto others without shame. The #1 rule in dealing with them is to look at whatever it is that they are accusing others of and know that they are up to their neck waddles in that very behavior.
Voter suppression is the only way power hungry republicans remain in office. Scare tactics are also another device. If we actually had true and honest sentiment the Republican brand would go over about as well as a fart in an elevator that is full of people.
Right on, the Republican Party has always pursued low voter turnout.
What a shock! Glad I was sitting down. The truth that none of these hypocrites will admit is that they believe that people who are poor or in a minority should not have an equal vote. If you basically look down on them and consistently oppose legislation to help them, why would you want them to vote? We have a few incidents of illegal voting, usually by immigrants who don’t understand the law, and they go nuts; yet they don’t bat an eye at putting up roadblocks for a single mother living in poverty to be able to cast a vote.
Vote by mail wouldn’t let the Republicans change polling places, polling times, publish erroneous polling information, require an ID. They will still claim massive voter fraud, which they never prove, they just make the accusation. The GOP is so unsure of their stance they feel they have to cheat to give themselves a chance to win. Straight up the GOP can’t win. Now in November the public has to remember the entire GOP are the ones that rolled over and abdication all their authority to a very sick person, dressed as a man, and who acts like a toddler.
Republicans have been trying to limit Voter participation for the last 50 years! Nothing new there. They know very well that the masses would vote them OUT of office if allowed to vote. Southern states have been practicing Jim Crow tactics since before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 trying to control Blacks and not allowing them to Vote! Northern states just attack the poor and elderly knowing that they overwhelmingly vote Democrat! So they are always coming up with schemes to prevent them from voting. Mail-In Voting is exactly what we need simply because there will be a paper trail and easy access for everyone!
Let us look at Wisconsin Republicans, who are trying to take 240,000 legal voters off the voting rolls. They Alston forced people to vote in person, which will KILL people. They cheat to win and block needed. Legislation. Time to flip the Minness as Ira Senate.
The only good part about the Trump era is that the republicans have been forced to, or maybe chosen to, drop any pretense for fairness, open voting, access for everyone, etc. They fully admit that their policies are far away from what the average Minnesotans want to live under. If they had good ideas that would make Minnesota a better place to live and make sure every Minnesotan had a fair shake at all this, they’d be open to making certain everyone has a safe, easy chance to vote. Instead, they work tirelessly to stop Minnesotans and Americans in general from voting. Any republican senator who is opposed to mail in ballots is opposed to fair democratic processes. Simple as that. You are a fool or lying to yourself if you believe their elitist rhetoric.
Rep. Nash should just honestly admit that his opposition to voting by mail is due to a desire to hold down the number of voters to benefit himself and his political party. Since the President has admitted this recently it shouldn’t be too difficult. Why would a political party be afraid to present its ideas to the full electorate?
All republicans oppose vote by mail. They actually oppose voting.
Interestingly, the Goniff-in-Chief himself voted by mail from the Trumpcave in Florida.
I realize that “Trump did it” is not a rebuttal to a charge of fraud, but more like a prima facie case. Still . . .
Well, this is a big shock. Republicans do better when a smaller percentage of eligible voters vote.
And yet some very conservative parts of the state only have vote by mail. How do they reconcile that??
Only liberals worry about things like even a modicum of consistency. Being a Republican means you don’t even have to pretend to care about logic or reason any longer.
The feds or states could decide that in order to make the system better for voting in person, do professional training of Precinct Chief who wouldn’t have to be elderly volunteers, train them well, pay them well for both their training and 15 hours or more on election day (and any other hours they work). Train at least two for every precinct so there’s backup. Then the workers on the day-of could be volunteers who get minimum pay.
We already do this, pretty much, at least in Ramsey County. The head judges have a ton of experience, and most judges are paid. A scant few are volunteers, and there’s no real difference between the paid and the volunteers. I’ve been a judge for over a decade and so far as I know, I’m not even close to being a head judge. Most judges have been doing it for years, and they know their stuff.
Come on guys we all know the Republican goal is to only have male and some female white folk gun-owners (NRA membership required) as the only people that we can trust to vote! The rest of us are all fraudsters, so much said in the article. And of course, that USPS, its only good enough for, Federal, State County, City, taxes, Medicare, Social Security, Credit Cards, Utility bills etc etc. etc (all items that never see fraud or abuse) but voting, wow, it would be like a plague of abuse. These folks choke on the words fair voting, if they can’t cheat, they can’t win!
Republicans have to do this. Their electoral success is based on voter suppression and voter fraud is the fig leaf they use to hide their strategy. It’s interesting to note that their poster boy for so-called cracking down on voter fraud is Kris Kobach, the former Secretary of State in Kansas. When he was in that office, it was his responsibility to prosecute voter fraud. So how did he do? In his time in office, there were 11 convictions for voter fraud – an average of approximately 1 per year. That’s according to the Heritage Foundation. And this in spite of Kobach claiming that Kansas has a large problem with undocumented immigrants.
Since Rep. Nash and his GOP colleagues are “diametrically opposed” to Secretary of State Simon’s “temporary, one-time” voting preparedness plan, here’s a compromise that should make everyone happy. Send an absentee ballot to all registered Democrats and voters who want to vote for Democrats. Voting early by mail (absentee ballot) is already legal in MN, so this idea would require no legislative approval or intervention. Instruct all registered Republicans and voters who want to vote for Republicans to go to their polling places as usual. Given that the MN GOP appears universally opposed to vote-by-mail, it should have no problem finding election judges to staff the state’s polling places, provided that masks are strictly voluntary, of course.
This is a really good idea, though of course it would need to include whoever wanted to vote by mail, regardless of party. (And the MN Supreme Court seems to have decided that some aspects of voting records are private, after all!) It appears that one problem would be the cost of preparing and processing ballots (a bit of research shows that there is increased cost–e.g. https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/all-mail-elections.aspx (“All-mail elections greatly increase printing costs for an election. Additionally, jurisdictions must have appropriate equipment to read paper ballots at a central location, and changing from electronic equipment to equipment that can scan paper ballots can be expensive.”)
So one alternative could be a campaign to increase early voting, perhaps with information about where that could be done. Not sure how the cost of such a campaign could be borne, but it could be one of the best and ultimately most valuable investments any of us could make.
Re the assertion of possible fraud, why not request specifics as to the experience of the three states where voting is now done by mail, namely Washington, Oregon, and Colorado?
But then it really doesn’t seem as though any of the objections are based on something so old-fashioned as rational thinking! Q: Did the framers count on politics as the best way to ensure the ultimate integrity of the system, and if so, has anything changed?
Minnesota Republicans are merely in lock-step with the national organization, whose primary spokesperson – the current occupant – has already admitted publicly that Republicans can’t win without voter suppression. Nothing in Republican comments quoted in Peter’s piece contradicts that notion. Republicans don’t want to govern. In fact, they’ve proven repeatedly in the decade I’ve been here that they don’t know how to govern. What they want to do is RULE, and their role model is the Benito Mussolini-like figure currently taking up space in the Oval Office.
I am a little shocked that – at least outloud, in this piece – that there’s Republicans want to expand the number of polling places.
When will a Republican speak up against military members overseas voting by mail?
A couple of them only (hypothetically) propose expanding polling places because it’s a non-solution to the problem posed by the pandemic, as Simon made clear. In an ordinary year our Repubs would oppose expanding polling sites.
Just as Repubs across the New Confederacy have radically closed polling locations serving non-white populations despite increased populations. It’s the New Jim Crow, courtesy of the democratically-illegitimate 5 man “conservative” majority on the Supreme Court. They have no choice but to curtail voting by Dem-leaning demographics, while aiding voting by their white demographic.
This is a deliberate nationwide scheme by “conservatives”.
“Attempting to change a law now for elections that are months away is extremely premature and a disappointing power grab by the Democrats at a time of extreme unease.”
How on Earth is proposing to change to voting by mail a ‘power grab’?
We bank online. We purchase most of our stuff online now. We apply for car licenses online. We submit taxes online. All seem to work really well. Maybe we just need to teach the Republican leaders and then their members how to use their smart phones and iPads. Maybe that’s the only problem. I’m sure willing to take time with them for this, without judging. It’s worth a try. Probably beats going to the polling places and getting the virus and dying.
“…Carnahan said. “Attempting to change a law now for elections that are months away is extremely premature and a disappointing power grab by the Democrats at a time of extreme unease.”
Should we instead wait till just before the election and then pull the trigger?
The time to act is now. At the present we can work on a plan, budget, and training. If we wait for six weeks before the election there won’t be time to get the job done.
Repubs oppose rational and effective government, so naturally they oppose attempts (by government) to plan.
We should be able to vote by mail during this round of elections, period. The only election fraud is by Republicans and they love to control the cheating. I think it is rational and practical to make mail in voting a temporary thing given the virus (gee, I hope the 15 people that had it are OK). We enjoy voting in person, and this year, my wife and I will crawl through rotten sugar beets to get to our small town hall to vote for Biden, and to rid this country of the sociopath in the office now.
Judging from the bigotry expressed by the commenters, there is no reason why I should trust them to count my vote.
Can an unregistered voter register and vote by mail on election day? If a ballot is sent to an address that the voter no longer lives at, can the current occupant use that ballot? If a person follows the mail truck and takes the ballots from mailboxes, can that person mark and send those ballots in to be counted? How long will it take to count disputed ballots, the ones filled out in crayon, pen, pencil, or whatever was handy? How do I prove that I didn’t receive a ballot? How can it be proven that I already voted and can’t vote again?
Feel free to as the ask all the Republicans leading states who do vote by mail today. See Ohio’s primary changes, Utah (hardly a Democrat hotbed), etc.
You could also ask all the rural MN Republicans who were duly elected by voters in the myriad precincts and townships that already do vote-by-mail in Minnesota.
These claims and concerns, like so many others made by the GOP, are completely baseless or have already been solved.
Cites please, since the answers are apparently all available and every problem solved.
Here you go: https://sos.oregon.gov/elections/Documents/vbm_manual.pdf
Oregon has had vote by mail for over 20 years with less evidence of fraud than exists in many states. It is incorrect to assume that vote by mail invites fraud.
Excellent article, really lays out the scandalous behavior by our MN Repubs, who at bottom naturally must follow the ridiculous Trump “vote fraud” line, since their constituents have become ardent Trump cultists.
The Repub hypocrisy that permits the residents of small (Repub-supporting) MN towns to vote by mail in every election, while now refusing it to other jurisdictions (even to protect their health!) is incredible. Repubs will simply say anything.
I guess we can say that this vote-by-mail issue is the end of the (short-lived) MN Covid Consensus. As soon as a needed Covid measure might implicate their entrenched power or might aid the functioning of the democracy, Repubs draw the line. The question will be whether Walz will now choose to use his daily podium appearances to begin denouncing this battle line the Repubs have drawn. The time to start the fight is now.
My understanding is that every “registered voter” will receive a ballot by mail.
There is all kinds of ” scientific evidence” about the inaccuracies in these registration lists along with other issues regarding voter registration issues.
Most of all – “common sense” teaches that such a proposed system is prime for even greater corruption than our current system.
Of course – the hatred of Trump and the GOP is so great – and the lust for political powers so compelling – a willingness to cancel legit votes for illegal votes and open the system for corruption is worth it for the DFL.
And what do you say to all the Republicans leading states who do vote by mail today? See Ohio’s primary changes, Utah (hardly a Democrat hotbed),etc. Should those elected officials resign their seats?
And what do you say to all the rural MN Republicans who were duly elected by voters in the myriad precincts and townships that already do vote-by-mail in Minnesota? Should they immediately resign their seats?
Turns out these claims, like so many others by the GOP, are completely baseless or have been solved.
It’s interesting that you would put “scientific evidence” and “common sense” in quotation marks. Typically, that usage indicates that the writer is being ironic in their choice of words.
OK Ron “common sense” which/what “common sense” is that? Its not “common sense” to me. Seems the USPS should be disbanded, because “common sense” tells you that system is ripe for fraud. Last look stimulus checks will be mailed to those that qualify. Guess “common sense” would say why are they mailing, that is ripe for fraud! So what you must really be saying is that the Trump administration has no “common sense” and is willingly committing a fraud against the American people for mailing those stimulus check,. because “commons sense” and “scientific evidence” tells us that.
Simple solution: Declare there is no valid vote unless it has been submitted by mail. The people voted “in person”–by marking their ballots. Instead of taking it to the machine, they give it to the Post Office–which the courts have ruled is a valid method of submitting your ballot to be counted.
The rhetoric of GOP Chair Jennifer Carnahan is quite revealing. First, there’s this: “As our nation grapples with a new normal filled with stress, anxiety and illness, Secretary of State Steven Simon’s push to change our voting system just adds to the chaos.”
It should go without saying that it does no such thing whatsoever. It’s an accusation that lacks for even a scintilla of evidence in its favor. In moments of rapid change and uncertainty decisions that alter familiar patterns are often called for in order to adapt. If your house is on fire do you just remain sitting on the couch because your favorite show is on?
If our goal is to reduce needless exposure to a lethal virus, the smart thing to do is to find ways of limiting that exposure, with mail-in ballots being one rational response. How could this NOT be one way to address the coronavirus threat?
Next, there’s this: “Attempting to change a law now for elections that are months away is extremely premature and a disappointing power grab by the Democrats at a time of extreme unease.”
“power grab” This is factually false on its face. However, if you begin with the assumption that only Republicans are entitled to hold office, which is a thoroughly anti-democratic and authoritarian belief, then Carnahan’s paranoid outburst makes sense. But, if you think making voting easier is bad for democracy, then perhaps you don’t really believe in democracy after all.
Whether today’s Republican Party actually accepts democracy beyond lip service is a question we all have to deal with.
“Power grab” being used to refer to efforts to maximize participation in an election shows an interesting mindset.
These (openly and obviously) anti-democratic and hypocritical strategies have to be rationalized as virtuous in some way for the psychological health of some cohort of rank and file Repubs. Hence the absurd and illogical “power grab” rhetoric.
The more Machiavellian elements of Team Conservative understand perfectly that vote suppression of certain demographics is essential for conservative “victory” and don’t need any such palliatives…
I just have a couple concerns about this. First, I’m actually not a big fan of early voting, specially in primaries. People can’t change their votes if or when they change their minds and a lot can happen in the weeks preceding an election. Second, Washington State does this and it takes them forever to tally their votes.
I would rather see election day voting facilitated better and made more efficient rather than simply trying to make elections and voting more convenient and “customer friendly”.
Having said that, during this pandemic it might make sense months from now in November, or in some other scenario, to have some kind of back-up plan that preserves social distancing. I would prefer that to be an emergency back-up rather than a new normal.
Who likes ‘constitutional originalists’ as judges? That would be conservatives. Is it because originally only white male property owners were allowed to vote? What would they conserve, white privilege, male dominance and don’t forget their personal fortunes.
Please take the Rep/Dem argument out of this.
What is SAFE for voters & Election Judges? In this year of rampant disease affecting & killing so many, we have already had 1 election that was in person, COVID 19 was an issue that was ignored, I am a retired person, I have a family member with respiratory issues, I who i feared passing the disease on to, I took hand sanitizer with me and tried to keep a distance, but it was impossible to maintain when we got busy.
How about the voters? Is forcing them to choose between voting (civic duty) or not fair? Is this a responsible thing to force upon our fellow Minnesotans?
What recourse do we have when our safety is threatened by exercising our civic duty and voting?
Please do the right thing and pass vote by mail for the health and safety of all Minnesotans.
Shocking. Republicans oppose something that makes it easier and/or safer for Americans to vote. Shocking.