
There's a raft of headlines similar to those on Paul Blumenthal's article for Huffpo, Republicans Are Pushing A Wave Of Voter Restrictions. Democrats’ Top Priority Would Stop Them.
HR1, the "For the People Act" passed on Wednesday on a 220-210 roll call vote. Read more in Alana Wise's report in House Approves Major Election Reform And Voting Rights Bill.
Those Minnesotans who consider such legislation to be a threat to "election integrity" can look to Minnesota House Minority Leader Kurt Daudt, R-Crown, and Deputy Minority Leader Anne Neu Brindley, R-North Branch, who are working with a national group to make sure it's hard to vote across the country.
In RSLC Election Integrity Commission Adds Leading State Officials, we learned on Monday:
Following the recent announcement of its effort to aid in restoring the American people’s confidence in the integrity of their free and fair elections, the Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC) today released additional secretaries of state and state legislators who are serving on its Commission on Election Integrity. The RSLC is convening these leading policymakers in order to share and discuss voter-centric current laws and future reforms that make it easier to vote and harder to cheat.
“Restoring the public’s trust in our democracy may be a national debate right now, but the Constitution makes clear that improvements to our election laws need to be enacted by state leaders,” said RSLC President Dee Duncan. “We have assembled a group of strong leaders who offer a variety of perspectives on the best policies to make it easier to vote and harder to cheat, and we look forward to continuing to serve as a hub of communication for them as they guide their colleagues across the country on how to tailor critical reforms to their respective states. While state Democrats defer to the radical federal legislative changes being pushed by liberals in Washington that will do irreparable damage to our elections, state Republicans are leading on this issue and are focused on producing commonsense results for the American people.”
In the list: Minnesota House Deputy Republican Leader Anne Neu Brindley and Minnesota House Republican Leader Kurt Daudt.
The talking point of easier to vote and harder to cheat should play well among those who still resent Minnesota's same day registration, enacted in 1973, that allowed urban voters to join the 40% of Minnesota's voters--in rural areas--who used election day registration under existing law.
This isn't the first time the Republican State Legislative Committee has taken an interest in Minnesota elections.
According to contribution data online at the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, the RSLC has contributed $2,813,758.00 to political funds since 2012. In the most recent 2019-2020 cycle, the RSLC funneled $120,000 to the MN Jobs Coalition PAC.
Both legislators have another leadership role with the RSLC. Daudt and Neu Brindley both serve on the executive committee of the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee, the RSLC's legislative caucus.
The description of the committee on its webpage:
The RSLC’s largest footprint in the states is rooted in the historic work of its legislative caucus: the Republican Legislative Campaign Committee (RLCC) - the only national organization dedicated exclusively to electing Republicans to state legislatures. RLCC faces a tall order with thousands of races on the ballot every major election cycle. Since 2003, RLCC has consistently delivered positive results by targeting national resources to support state races. Republicans currently hold majorities in 61 of 99 state legislative chambers.
As for the RSLC itself:
With over 250,000 donors across all 50 states, the RSLC has been able to invest millions into state races since 2002. In the 2019-2020 election cycle alone, we spent a record $45+ million, directly contributing to Republican victories across the country. In 2020, we defended 59 of 99 legislative chambers and flipped 2 more from blue to red, with a third likely on its way. In addition, we boast 25 lieutenant governor seats, 28 secretaries of state offices, and 11 out of 12 elected agriculture officials. Because of our successes, Republicans are in a strong position to pass legislation and advocate for voters in their states.
We've looked at that funding in past posts like 2018's earnest money? MN corporate cash in Republican State Leadership Committee filing. And 2015's Merchants of Daudt revisited: Republican State Leadership Committee now less transparent. Etc. We should mosey over to the IRS political organization database to see what more recent filings tell us.
Good luck to both Daudt and Brindley in their efforts to rewrite election law to make it easier secure a Republican majority in the Minnesota House.
UPDATE 3/4/2021, 2:32 p.m.: In an email, Minnesota elections expert Max Hailperin shared election bills watcher's closer take on both leaders work on "election integrity" legislation in St. Paul :
I haven't seen any signs of Daudt playing any leadership role on "election integrity." In particular, he is not a (co-)author on any election bill. Perhaps his leadership role will be more apparent when DFL-sponsored bills reach the floor. Beyond a defensive role against them, he could be leading the offering of amendments, which would force the DFL to go on record against "election integrity."
Neu Brindley, on the other hand, has been more vocal in committee and is the lead author of a bill, HF 943. More notably, she succeeded already in deploying the amendment-offering tactic, turning that bill into a proposed amendment to HF 1160, which gave the GOP committee members a chance to go on record in support of it and the DFL committee members to have to cautiously oppose it. [end update}
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