Minnesota college students rally against voter ID amendment

College students from around the state rallied with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak at the U of M Tuesday in an effort to defeat the proposed voter ID amendent on the ballot in November.

Author:
BMTN Staff
Updated:
Mar 8, 2018
Original:
Oct 23, 2012

College students from around the state rallied with Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak at the U of M Tuesday in an effort to defeat the proposed voter ID amendent on the ballot in November, MPR News reports.

If passed, the amendment would require voters to have a government-issued ID at the polls. Alex Kopel, a junior at St. Thomas, tells MPR News she's concerned the measure would prohibit her from using her private college student ID when voting.

Minnesota Student Association president Taylor Williams says that the cost of providing identification to eligible voters could be put to better use, such as more funding for higher education.

According to MinnPost, advocates for the amendment says the cost of a new system is worth clean elections. However, Dan McGrath chairman of Protect My Vote, tells MPR there's no reason to believe the requirement would divert money from higher education.

Should the amendment pass, how it will be implemented is up to the state Legislature to decide. There are 201 state legislative seats up for grabs this election, the Minnesota Daily noted.

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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.

Mayors R.T. Rybak of Minneapolis and Chirs Coleman of St. Paul say a requirement that Minnesotans show a photo ID to vote would drive up the costs of holding an election. They call the change an unfunded mandate and say it could force local governments to raise property taxes. The Minnesota Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on a lawsuit challenging the question slated to appear on the November ballot.

If the Republican Senate also passes it, voters in the general election this November will decide whether to amend the state's constitution to require that voters present a valid photo ID before they can cast a ballot.

The Senate Local Government and Elections Committee passed the voter ID bill on a party-line vote, with DFLers opposing it. The measure has several more stops before it would appear on the November ballot as a proposed Constitutional amendment.

The Minnesota Supreme Court heard arguments Tuesday afternoon in a lawsuit aimed at keeping the voter ID constitutional amendment off of the statewide ballot. The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota, League of Women Voters Minnesota and other anti-amendment groups are asking the court to strike down the ballot question. They claim its wording is too vague and misleading.

The measure advanced through a House committee on a party-line vote Monday. If the House and Senate pass the proposal, then voters in the November election will decide whether to amend the state constitution to require that all would-be voters present a photo ID before they cast a ballot.

Groups that are challenging the proposed Constitutional amendment that would require an ID to vote filed paperwork with the Minnesota Supreme Court in advance of the hearing later this month. They say if the court approves the ballot question as is, it will send the message that the Legislature is free to mislead or deceive voters.

Black voters in Minnesota are the latest audience sought by opponents and supporters of marriage amendment, the Star Tribune reports. The president of the national NAACP was in the state Monday to urge black voters to reject the ballot measure that would ban gay marriage. Church leaders are divided.

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