Two students turned away from,the polls in Morris. pic.twitter.com/9B8X1oWJHy
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
Update: The Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State has shared a statement with us. See new post: MN Office of Secretary of State response to BSP's query about U of M-Morris student voting.
Erik Hatlestad, a Minnesota Public Interest Research Group (MPIRG) organizer working on the University of Minnesota at Morris, tweets that college students who live in campus housing are being turned away from the polls by election judges when they attempt to vote using their student ID cards.
Following instructions from Stevens County election officials, the judges are demanding that the students use driver's licenses to prove their identity and residence, according to Hatlestad's tweets:
Judges continue to demand students on the campus residence list produce drivers licenses when all they need is a student ID.
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
Apparently the judges at the UMM have been told that they should not,accept student IDs for on campus students by the Stevens county office.
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
In Minnesota, college students who live in campus housing (and who have not voted elsewhere) may vote using their student ID cards as proof of identity and residence if their school has provided a list of students residing in campus housing. Read about the law in here on the Minnesota Secretary of State's website.
UPDATE: Hatlestad has sent us a message that "The county auditor told MPIRG that the SOS is wrong." [end update].
Reached by phone, Hatlestad said that the University had supplied the list to the county, adding that the students are working to secure and exercise their voting rights today.
Earlier in the day, he had already helped one student successfully vote:
Just helped a student turned away from the polls cast his ballot. Day made.
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
Morris is located in Minnesota House District 12A, where state representative Jay McNamar (DFL, Elbow Lake) is fighting an aggressive campaign by Brown's Valley Republican Jeff Backer. Outside groups have spent over a third of a millions dollars in independent expenditures.
The town is also part of Minnesota's Seventh Congressional District, hotly contested by incumbent Blue Dog Democrat Collin Peterson and Republican state senator Torrey Westrom.
Here are more photos of students who allegedly have been denied their right to vote:
Another student turned away in 12A. pic.twitter.com/6U6So9CN2r
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
Here's another student who had their vote suppressed. pic.twitter.com/ScPmQn9L9t
— Erik Hatlestad (@ehatlestad) November 4, 2014
We'll have more on this developing story as it unfolds.
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Question on your Update: Is the Stevens County Auditor saying that the Secretary of State is incorrect in their interpretation of state election law?
BSP: Yes.
Posted by: Mike Worcester | Nov 04, 2014 at 04:57 PM