Is voter fraud a serious problem, or myth?

The Star Tribune examines the issue of voter fraud in Minnesota, where state residents are poised to decide on a ballot measure that would require voters to bring a photo ID to the polls. The campaigns on both sides of the issue sharply disagree on whether fraud is a problem that requires a constitutional amendment to fix it.

Author:: BMTN Staff
Publish date:: Oct 29, 2012

The Star Tribune examines the issue of voter fraud in Minnesota, where state residents are poised to decide on a ballot measure that would require voters to bring a photo ID to the polls. The campaigns on both sides of the issue sharply disagree on whether fraud is a problem that requires a constitutional amendment to fix it.

Meanwhile, a Star Tribune poll shows that voters are poised to approve the voter ID measure.

The issue recently was hotly debated by high-profile advocates and opponents of the measure in Rochester.

The state's major newspaper editorial boards have had their say. In an editorial over the weekend, the St. Paul Pioneer Press argues that the voter ID measure would "tighten up" a loose system. The Star Tribune urged a "no" vote, arguing that it is too costly and unnecessary.

Wondering how other states have dealt with this? The National Conference of State Legislatures has a useful map that boils it down.

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The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota is offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who can find a case of voter impersonation in the state during the last ten years. The group opposes the effort to put a voter ID requirement on Minnesota's ballot. Backers of the idea say it will reduce voter fraud. But the ACLU argues fraud is not a problem here.

In a shocking upset, the voter ID amendment has failed, and by a sizable margin. With 98 percent of precincts reporting, the "no" votes led by nearly 8 percentage points, MPR says. The measure would have amended the state constitution to require voters to bring photo IDs to the polls.

Minnesota's reputation as a squeaky-clean state is under attack. The Minnesota Majority, a conservative group that has campaigned for a strict photo ID requirement, put up a billboard near Elk River that says Minnesota is "number one" in voting fraud. Meanwhile, groups on both sides of the issue are plotting strategy in the run-up to the vote.

Estimates of how much it will cost to implement a voter ID requirement at Minnesota polling places range from a few million dollars to $100 million. The cost is among many details that state lawmakers will need to fill in if residents approve a Constitutional amendment requiring a government-issued ID to vote.

Planned Parenthood has thrown its weight behind efforts to defeat the ballot measures that seek to ban gay marriage and require voters to bring photo ID to polling places. The two measures are important to the people Planned Parenthood works with, MPR reports.

Two new Minnesota Polls by the Star Tribune find a statistical dead head in the constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, but a slight edge for support of a constitutional change that would require voters to show a government-issued photo ID.

Passage of the voter ID constitutional amendment next month would require Minnesotans to bring a government-issued photo identification to the polls when they vote, beginning in 2013. But the devil is in the details. The Pioneer Press reports that critics say the specifics still aren't clear – what kind of ID, what happens if you don’t have one, how much it would cost and who pays? The 2013 Legislature could be left to sort it out.

A Wisconsin voter group is suing the state over a requirement to show a photo ID at the polls. The League of Women Voters says the provision signed into law by Governor Scott Walker in May violates the state constitution. The group says the requirement creates a new class of people who can’t vote--those who don’t have ID.