The Marshall Independent tidily dismisses the Kiffmeyer and Newman VoterID amendment in its Short takes for June 10:
Let go pursuit of voter ID
THUMBS DOWN: It's time to give up on the voter ID crusade. Republicans supporting the move that would require voters to show a photo ID in order to vote aren't giving up on the fight after Gov. Mark Dayton vetoed the bill this year. On Tuesday, Rep. Mary Kiffmeyer and Sen. Scott Newman said they'll make a push for a constitutional amendment during the next session. The amendment would be on the 2012 ballot if passed by the Legislature. Does Minnesota really need another amendment on next year's ballot? No. Voters will already be voting on an amendment to define marriage in the Minnesota Constitution next year, and since there is no widespread voter fraud problem in Minnesota, spending time on the voter ID issue is time wasted.
One wonders why Newman, my state senator, wants to waste time on things like this and his suspicions about non-profits. Does he only govern out of his vague feelings? Or to the best of his knowledge, which as Bluestem demonstrated in Republicans of genius: Newman falsely claims no governor ever vetoed a voter ID bill, seems absent a crumb of due diligence. Governing by comfort zone, anyone?
But I can't fault Kiffmeyer for that. Privileging one's comfort zone is a Kiffmeyer family value, after all. Kiffmeyer spouse Ralph, a mid-1980s one-term wonder, once tried to outlaw sex toys. Was his ill-fated legislative relief motivated by fear, loathing, envy or any combination of the three? I'm simply not close enough to the Kiffmeyers to judge.
Photo: Senator Scott Newman
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