Another rural Minnesota county auditor has raised concerns about the costs and complications that may follow passage of the voter-restricting Photo ID Amendment.
In the September 11 Caledonia Argus, Emily Bialkowski reports in County auditor says voter ID proposition no good:
Houston County Auditor Char Meiners said – strictly from the responsibilities she holds as the chief election administrator – the proposition will create an immediate drain on the election process.
Meiners gave a presentation on the topic to the Houston County Board during their Aug. 28 meeting after receiving several questions about the amendment and how it will affect elections.
She prefaced her presentation by saying it was strictly informational. “I’m not telling you how to vote. My job as chief election administrator is to provide information of what is potentially coming,” she said.
At face value the law requires voters to show photographic identification before voting.
It sounds simple enough, even reasonable, because the state would be required to issue a free ID to those who don’t have one. However, Meiners said there are many legitimate reasons people don’t have a current driver’s license – such as a recent move, recent marriage, the person is elderly and doesn’t drive – and that it’s not a free ID from the state if you’re required to provide a birth certificate or marriage license and have to pay to get copies of those.
Meiners also suggests that provisional voting will require extended hours for her office to allow voters to verify their identity, thus driving up costs. She also notes that the process of getting a driver's license takes longer than three to ten business days, and most people will not be able to provide adequate ID in time for their ballots to be counted.
The Argus notes that she had additional concerns:
“Provisional balloting will be a cumbersome process,” Meiners said, adding that it cost the State of Indiana $10 million dollars to provide free IDs the first year they had a voter ID law.
Her list of concerns continued with absentee voting. Absentee voters will be required to prove who they are just like regular voters. In the last presidential election, Meiners said a tenth of the county voted absentee, many of whom are elderly. She said many of those individuals no longer drive and have transportation issues for getting the free ID. They may also have trouble locating birth certificates and similar documentation, she said. . . .
In addition to the 1,000 voters who voted absentee the last presidential election, Meiners said there was another 1,000 who utilized same day voter registration. The amendment, if passed, is likely to eliminate that convenience.
Read the whole article at the Argus.
Since the voting fraud convictions in Minnesota dealt with felons casting ballots, the photoID amendment won't address that problem; other legislation unrelated to requiring a photo ID address this problem.
For more information about the impact of the voter restriction amendment in Greater Minnesota, Bluestem recommends the Greater MN Counts website.
Photo: Photo ID ninja Mary Kiffmeyer pursuing her war on voters.
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