Dayton vetoes Voter ID bill

Posted at 4:50 PM on May 26, 2011 by Tom Scheck (1 Comments)
Filed under: MN Legislature, Mark Dayton

Governor Dayton has vetoed a bill that would require Minnesotans to show photo identification to vote.

Dayton said in his veto letter that the so-called Voter ID bill would be an unfunded mandate for local units of government, that it didn't receive broad bipartisan support in the Legislature and that it would violate the federal Military and Overseas Voter Empowerment Act.

Supporters of the bill said it's needed to prevent fraud at the polls. Dayton said he didn't believe voter fraud was a problem in the state. He also said the Voter ID law would not prevent felons from voting illegally.

In addition to the veto, Dayton issued an executive order that would create a task force to modernize the state's election system and work on ways to prevent illegal voting.

Supporters of the photo ID requirement say they may try to get the measure on the ballot next year as a constitutional amendment.

Here's the veto letter:

Ch-69-SF509

Comments (1)

Dayton said the Voter ID bill wouldn't do anything to stop felons voting. He should have read the bill before vetoing it. Article 2, Sections 11 and 13 prevent felons and other ineligible voters from receiving a ballot and guarantees that all voters are verified by equal standards - instead of the double standard we now have for election day registrants.

The reporter knows that, but seems to have neglected to mention it, so I figured I would.

Dayton also said the Voter ID bill would be an unfunded mandate for local units of government, that it didn't receive broad bipartisan support and would violate the MOVE ACT.

All of these assertions are demonstably false.

Here's a rebuttal to Dayton's veto letter: http://www.minnesotamajority.org/Home/tabid/112/EntryID/355/Default.aspx

Posted by Dan McGrath | May 31, 2011 8:23 PM

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