Most of the headlines about last week's Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka's announcment of a proposal to require photo IDs for voting in the state's elections hearkened back to the failed 2012 ballot amendment that would have installed the requirement in the Minnesota state constitution.
Witness Bring Me The News' Despite 2012 failure, MN Republicans to try again for Voter ID; City Pages' Minnesota Republicans use 2012 video to promote 2012 idea, and the Star Tribune's Minnesota GOP senators renew push for stricter voter ID law.
In the last article, Briana Bierschbach reports:
The amendment failed in 2012 with roughly 52% of Minnesotans opposed, but in a video posted to Twitter on Friday, Senate Majority Leader Paul Gazelka said he didn't think it was "clear in people's minds what actually we were trying to do" back then.
"We are going to push hard this year to say, if you're voting you have to have an ID to vote," said Gazelka, of Nisswa. "I think it matters. I think with all the things that have been happening around us, people want to know that the elections are secure, and we're standing up and saying this is something we're going to do."
What are "all the things that have been happening around us"? One bit of voter fraud fakelore we've seen while creeping conservative social media is the certainty on the part of some Minnesotans that Attorney General Keith Ellison couldn't not have been elected to the office in 2018 save through voter fraud.
City Pages' Pete Kotz romped through one version of this tale with Laura Loomer 'discovers' busloads of Muslims committing 'voter fraud' in Minnesota.
We found another explication of the case, by State Director of the Minnesota Prayer Caucus, the Chief Steward of Restore Minnesota and a consulting staff member to the Minnesota Family Council/ Minnesota Family Institute, Dale Witherington, in a YouTube of his guest appearance, America at a Crossroads - What Will our Future Hold? at the Meeting Tree Place in Rochester on December 10:
Witherington says:
. . .Anybody who's watching me now, if this is being still live, livestreamed . . .you know, you probably think I'm some kind of conspiracy theorist or religious nutcase or whatever. That's fine. I honestly don't care. These are people telling me that, who are involved in the system.
Now, is it true? Well, I don't know. How does--here's a big question I'd want to know: how does a person who was supposedly nine points behind in an election two days before an election win the election and become the Attorney General? How do you swing nine points in two days? I don't know.
But I've got a representative who will tell me that--and he represents one party--and he said his mother always voted for the other party, she was shocked that he won in this party. His mother died last year and he said I can guarantee you she died last year, she'll vote next year.
Audience member: She will too.
So those are the kind of things that there's enough discussion, he says, it happens. But who's able to cover it up enough so that instead of uncovering what's happening, it would make people make me sound like a complete idiot.
We too don't know how a candidate could swing public opinion nine points.
In fact, that's not what happened in the 2018 Attorney General's race in Minnesota, regardless if "there's enough discussion" like this chat by Witherington in December 2019.
Here's a summary of polling from a late 2018 campaign cycle story by Stephen Montemayor in the Strib, Minnesota attorney general race attacks continue as campaign counts down to finish:
Two polls conducted last month found both candidates holding single-digit leads with 16 and 12 percent of respondents respectively undecided. A Star Tribune/MPR News Minnesota Poll, taken Oct. 15-17, found that Wardlow had moved into a 43-36 percent lead over Ellison. A KSTP/SurveyUSA Poll, conducted between Oct. 29-31 and released Thursday, showed Ellison with a 44-40 percent advantage.
According to 2018 Election Results on the Minnesota Secretary of State's website, Keith Ellison won the office with 48.96% of the vote, while Republican Doug Wardlow took 45.08%. Grassroots-Legalize Cannabis candidate took 5.28% of the votes cast.
Doesn't sound like Ellison swung much from late October's polling with that 3.88% margin.
Given those facts, perhaps Witherington is wise to worry whether he sounds like a complete idiot. We won't speculate at a distance about his capacity as a conspiracy theorist or his mental health.
But we're betting we read or watch variations of this charming fakelore as the Minnesota Republican Senate Caucus campaigns on "all the things that have been happening around us." Let's hope some of that bladderdash takes place in senate committees and on the floor of the upper chamber so that those who can accurately cite news reports have a chance to correct their gentle colleagues.
As we noted in Welcome to Historic Fort Snelling at Bdote, or maybe not under Christian right's Project Blitz ,Witherington works closely with senator (and former Secretary of State) Mary Kiffmeyer, R-Big Lake, and Scott Newman, R-Hutchinson. The Hutchinson Leader reports Sen. Newman will pen state voter ID bill.
Related posts:
- Things to do in Rochester MN: Meeting Tree Place repeats anti-Muslim crackpots in 2020
- Wed. morning MN Prayer Caucus bible study in State Office Building might not be for everyone
- A few other MN conservative activists signed TIL's Say No to Interfaith Dialogue declaration
- Minnesota’s Rep. Omar and Attorney General Ellison did not encourage voter fraud (Associated Press)
- Will Mike Lindell's Laura Loomer moment be a boon to his gubernatorial ambitions?
Photo: Keith Ellison, via campaign website.
If you appreciate our posts and original analysis, you can mail contributions (payable to Sally Jo Sorensen, 600 Maple Street, Summit SD 57266) or use the paypal button in the upper right hand corner of this post. Those wishing to make a small ongoing monthly contribution should click on the paypal subscription button.
Or you can contribute via this link to paypal; use email [email protected] as recipient.
Comments