Northfield Legislators Push Voter ID Bills

Editor's note: Capitol Review is a weekly look at what your state legislators are doing at the Minnesota Capitol—how they're voting, the bills they're writing and the issues they're getting behind. Come back to Northfield Patch every Monday for a new Capitol Review.

Northfield's Republican lawmakers are firmly behind requiring voters to present photo identification when they head to the polls in 2012.

Both the Senate and House have bills that would do just that, with the Senate approving its bill last week in a party-line 37-26 vote. The House's companion bill currently sits in the Cival Law Committee.

“I believe (voting) is one of the greatest rights we have in America … and to protect this right is something I am very serious about wanting to do,” Sen. Al DeKruif (R-District 25) told Senate members last week. "We need to show photo IDs for so many different things in the world today. To show it to vote, I believe, is a very minor thing."

But some Republican legislators are fearful that Gov. Mark Dayton, a democrat, will veto the bill once it gets to his desk.

With that in mind, the Republican-led House last week proposed a Constitutional amendment that would require all voters to present a valid government-issued photo ID. The House Government Operations and Elections Committee approved the bill on a 7-5 party-line vote and sent it to the House Ways and Means Committee.

If approved by the House and Senate, the measure would be be voted on by Minnesotans in the 2012 general election.

DeKruif, who has a disabled son, said he and his wife helped their son get a photo ID.

"It's not that difficult to get," he said, adding that his son is required to show his ID when filling out checks.

Ben Hellerstein, a student and member of the Minnesota Public Interest Research Group, testified in front of the Senate in March, saying Minnesota can't pass a voter photo identification requirement.

Hellerstein, originally from New York, says he fell in love with Minnesota partly because of its open process.

"This is a welcoming and friendly place and a place that invites people to get involved without putting up a lot of unnecessary barriers and obstacles," he told the committee. "This legislation attempts to solve a problem that doesn't exist."

Sen. Dave Thompson (R-District 36), who represents Northfield's precinct in Dakota County, told the Senate last week that he often gets asked how the proposed legislation supports an election system with integrity.

"What could be more a more important step to the integrity of the election system ... then to simply demonstrate I am the person I claim to be?" he said.

Rep. Kelby Woodard (R-District 25B), who is a co-author on both the original House bill, HF 210, and the bill to send the issue to the voters, HF 1597, last week told Northfield residents at a town hall meeting that he was fully behind requiring a photo ID.

“If voting is that important to you, you should get a voting ID," he said.

Some opponents of the bill are concerned that students, the elderly and other groups do not have the time or resources to file the proper paperwork.

“By adding an obstacle to voting, you are blocking the democratic process,” Adrienne Falcon said at the town hall meeting.

Nine states currently require a photo ID to vote.