Earlier this year, the Minnesota state legislature passed SF 509 [1], requiring photo ID at the polls. Governor Mark Dayton vetoed [2] the bill, but proponents led by ALEC [3] State Chairwoman Mary Kiffmeyer [4] managed to bypass him by pushing through a constitutional amendment version (HF 2738 [5]) and sending the voter ID question to voters. Efforts went forth to remove it from the ballot but the MN Supreme Court denied the challenge [6].
An aggressive “Vote No” movement was waged all the way up to Election Day. ACLU of Minnesota [7], Common Cause Minnesota [8], Jewish Community Action [9], Take Action MN [10], and Our Vote Our Future [11] all campaigned and distributed information about the harmful and discriminatory nature of voter ID. The Minnesota League of Women Voters [12] issued an excellent fact sheet [13] that debunked the most common misleading claims regarding voter ID, and a popular “I Pledge to Vote NO” [14] Facebook page got information out over social media networks. But organizations continued to grow weary as polls [15] showed that voters were willing to approve the amendment all the way up to the week before Election Day.
But the campaign apparently worked – Minnesotans ended up opposing voter ID [16] on Tuesday and the amendment failed 54.2% to 45.8%. Minnesotans do not need to fear [17] having to present a photo ID to vote in future elections, and the question can largely be put to rest.
Throughout 2011 [18] and 2012 [19], conservative groups and legislators sought to restrict the right to vote and disenfranchise multiple groups of people. Minnesotans proved to want to preserve the right to vote for all.
