Minn. Dems pushing to create the most inclusive voter registration law in the country

[Doondoo]

Anyone eligible to vote who has a driver's license or a state ID card would be automatically registered under a controversial proposal emerging at the Capitol that would give Minnesota the most expansive voter registration law in the nation. Granting automatic voting status to drivers, a step that no other state has taken, would put on the voting rolls as many as 500,000 people who are not registered now.

The measure, proposed by newly elected Secretary of State Mark Ritchie, will start moving this week through a Legislature controlled by DFLers, who have long advocated making it easier for Minnesotans to vote. The state already leads the nation in voter turnout, and Ritchie, a DFLer who defeated two-term Republican Mary Kiffmeyer last fall, said he wants to "continue to be Number 1 in elections."

But Republicans are expressing alarm about Ritchie's proposal. GOP leaders, focused on preventing election fraud, had been pushing for photo ID requirements and other security precautions for voting before they lost their House majority.

"We already have probably the most liberal voting laws in the nation and the highest turnout and no problems with being too restrictive," said state Republican Party chairman Ron Carey. "Our focus should be on education and security and integrity. Quality, not quantity, should be the goal."

DFLers have derided the GOP's emphasis as an attempt to suppress voter turnout. In a sign of the intensifying fight over the issue, Rep. Laura Brod, R-New Prague, an assistant minority leader and the lead member of the House committee dealing with elections, has written letters to state newspapers warning that Ritchie's idea "would likely make it easier for non-Minnesotans to vote."

Ritchie brushed aside those criticisms, saying his proposal would streamline election records and help county election officials save money. Making sure everyone eligible to vote does so tops his agenda, he said.

"It is absolutely true that I believe every eligible citizen should have no barriers at all in their way," Ritchie said. "The argument that some citizens are not worthy enough or not smart enough is as un-American as I can imagine."



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