2006 State Legislative
Recap
Voting Equipment Ensured
in All Townships
by Mai Thor
The 2006
legislative session began with controversial debates over several
election bills. The most heated debates were fueled by issues such
as photo ID requirements, proof of citizenship for voter registration
and the presence of voter fraud in Minnesota. The session ended,
however, with a relatively non-controversial Elections Omnibus
Bill that passed in the Senate 64-0 and in the House, 129-3.
The election bill that was most closely watched by people with disabilities,
Senate File 2591 and House File 2608, would have permanently exempted
Minnesota townships from using accessible voting equipment in their
local elections. After the disability community voiced great opposition
to the bill, the Senate and House committees recognized the need
to come to an agreement with the townships and encouraged both parties
to find a compromise. This was not an easy task, and the bill was
idle during several weeks of negotiations. Fortunately, the bill
never got a hearing in the Senate. However, an amended version of
the bill made its way to the State Government Finance Committee in
the House, where it ultimately passed and was added as a provision
to the State Government Finance Omnibus Bill.
This bill’s provisions
were eventually re-assigned to new bills, which left the township
bill in limbo. Two weeks before the session ended, the townships
came back with a new amendment. This amendment allowed the townships
to share the costs of accessible voting equipment within their
respective counties, lowering the cost for each of them. Counties
would administer elections for the townships by working with the
vendor of the accessible voting equipment to see to its programming
needs. At this point, an Elections Omnibus Bill was being negotiated
by both houses and the Office of the Secretary of State (OSS).
The amendment allowing towns to share equipment costs was approved
by all parties and added to the bill during the final minutes before
it was voted on in the House and Senate.
The Voting Rights Coalition
is to be commended for its hard work once again this year on election
legislation at the capitol. The coalition’s members fight
tirelessly to make sure that good policies, such as the one stated
above, are passed into law. In addition to the township issue,
the following are other disability-related provisions of the Elections
Omnibus Bill:
• Deaf Voters Provisions—provide
easier access to ASL interpretation at caucuses and polling places
• Agent Delivery of Ballots—provides that residents of group
homes and battered women’s shelters can appoint an agent to deliver
absentee ballots
• Creation of Voting Machines Working Group—co-chaired by
the Minnesota Disability Law Center and Election Integrity—Minnesota;
this group will make recommendations about accessible voting machines
The rest of the provisions include:
• Tribal ID’s—can
be used if issued by a federally recognized tribe to register to
vote on Election Day
• Approval of HAVA Rules—makes permanent language that governs
how to process voter registration applications, includes language clarifying
that cell phone bills can be used for same day registration
• Prohibits Deceptive Election Practices—prohibits misleading
people about elections
• Safe at Home Address—confidentiality program for survivors
of domestic violence
• Paper Ballot Requirement
• Election Judge Transcription—allows election judges to
transcribe ballots in case the ballot from the accessible voting machine
cannot be read by the counter
• Full Voter Information Bill—allows the OSS, the Campaign
Finance Board and public libraries to provide links to candidates’ Web
sites
• Post Election Audit—verifies that electronic ballot counters
are working accurately
• Anti-Caging Bill—prohibits tactics used by political parties
in other states to generate lists of voters to challenge
• Absentee Voting during Pandemic—provides that a voter
can vote absentee during situations of quarantine or other threats
to public safety
• Financial Disclosure for Local Candidates—insures that
those already required to file reports have to submit useful information
• Campaign finance—defines magnets with contact information
of an elected official as non-campaign disbursement
To read the bill as
passed, refer to the Minnesota State Legislature’s
Web site at www.house.leg.state.mn.us
Mai
Thor is the voting outreach advocate for the Disability Law Center.
