|
|
MARY ON ELECTION ISSUES:
What principles have guided you in the administration of elections?
When I took office, I brought with me the Voter Rights Principles that I
developed while serving as an election judge for over 11 years. Those
principles are:
Access - The right for legitimate voters to access a ballot.
Accuracy - The right to have your vote counted accurately.
Privacy - The right to a secret ballot.
Integrity - The right to know that your election system has integrity.
Individually, each of these principles are important to the proper
administration of elections but must be kept in balance in order to be most
effective.
What should the secretary of state do to enhance participation in elections?
Democracy is hard work and demands diligence first and foremost from the
Chief Election Official (Secretary of State). For this reason, the
secretary of state must be more than the chief election official but also
the chief cheerleader for liberty and freedom. Thankfully, Minnesotans
recognizes citizenship as a cultural value as evidenced by our long-standing
reputation as the highest voter turnout state in the country. Yet we must
always work to further engage the public in the elections process.
What can we do to help our youngest and newest citizens to become engaged in
citizenship and elections?
I take very seriously the survival of our society and democracy well into
the future. I believe we must help our newest and next citizens take
leadership positions. That's why I appointed two groups to help: Young
Citizens Advisory Task Force and the Ambassadors of Citizenship. These
groups have been extraordinarily helpful in reaching out to our young people
and new citizens so we can continue the Minnesota tradition of an election
ethic and citizenship as a cultural value.
As a result, we've been successful in recruiting young people into the
election judge training process and registering young voters and new
citizens like never before.
Additionally, I am particularly proud that, for the first time ever, polling
places will now have voting instructions in multiple languages. This effort
will support the growing sense of citizenship and participation in the
democratic process among our newest citizens.
As Secretary of State, you are the chief election official in the state, do
you propose any changes in Minnesota's election laws?
Minnesota has a remarkably strong, yet flexible election system. The
backbone of this system is a group of election administrators who are
committed to democracy. Continuing our training program
The moving of the state primary from September to August to give more time
between the primary and general election and thereby make it easier to vote
by absentee ballot, especially for students studying abroad and for people
serving abroad in the military.
Do you think we should know who is voting by requiring voters to show a
photo ID?
Yes. The use of photo identification is a common-sense, common-place
practice to ensure personal security in our everyday lives. Applying this
practice to the election process will only add to the integrity of the
election process by ensuring that eligible individuals are given access to
the ballot. The implementation of the Photo ID must have free IDs made
available to those at or under the poverty line and special protections for
our seniors who may not need a general ID during their later senior lives.
When implemented, a strong funding of a program of voter education must be
included in preparation for its use.
Currently, Minnesota law requires an equality of election judges from each
of the political parties. Do you support that law?
Absolutely. The current law has served us well and is rooted in the
doctrine of "checks and balances" found throughout our government and serves
the public interest by preventing the control of election oversight by any
one party. In this way, public debate can be focused on the candidates and
issues themselves, rather than the process.
While election judge balance is important for the overall process, it also
serves the needs of individual voters who may need assistance and balanced
instruction. This is particularly true for some elderly and our newest
voters, both young and new citizens. Equally important, visually impaired
voters may rely on the instruction of paired election judges, each from a
different party, when completing and casting their ballots. This way these
voters receive balanced instruction and can be assured that their votes are
treated with integrity and filled in accurately.
Yet election judge balance is not only important in helping voters during
the election day, it is also valuable after the polls close. At that time,
election judges are responsible for tabulating and reporting election
results. During this process, the public's interest is served when judges
from each party join together in agreement about the accuracy and integrity
of the outcome. Candidates themselves have a stake in this approach, and it
is this same principle of balanced representation that is involved in
recounts when the opposing candidates are invited to observe the process.
As Minnesota's Secretary of State, I believe we must remain faithful to the
Voter Rights principles. While we must be diligent to recruit and retain
election judges, we must also maintain our longstanding tradition of
ensuring that those who do serve as election judges are qualified and that
they help insure public and candidate confidence in the process and its
outcome.
Does the state of Minnesota have adequate provisions to guard against cases
of spoiled ballots as occurred in Florida during the 2000 presidential
election?
Yes. Again, Minnesota is blessed with a strong election system. It
includes the technological and procedural safeguards to ensure that voters
can cast a replacement ballot if a problem is discovered before the ballot
is cast on election day.
Florida's problems also were a combination of inadequate recount procedures
and methods of determining voter intent, along with training deficiencies.
Though recounts can and do occur in Minnesota, we do have clearly defined in
law both voter intent and specific timelines and procedures for recounts.
Yet, no matter how good our laws, the real backbone of Minnesota election
integrity is a group of dedicated, well-trained election administrators
committed to democracy.
It is this combination of laws, systems and trained administrators that
earned Minnesota "straight A's" from Common Cause for election
administration in 2000 and 2001.
Could we have Florida-like problems in Minnesota?
When it comes to recounts, I don't think we should ever kid ourselves about
it - recounts have and will always be a possibility in every close election.
In Minnesota we've had our share. The difference is that we have uniform
standards for the conduct of recounts and dedicated election administrators
to carry them out.
However, we do not have the kind of equipment and training problems they've
had in Florida.
What have you done to help prevent Florida-like problems in Minnesota?
We've done a great deal. For instance, we now have uniform recount
standards and procedures, improved ballot access for the military and
students studying overseas, and are increasing access for the disabled and
our newest citizens.
Have you done anything to further improve election equipment in our state?
We've made great strides to bring election equipment equality to our state,
particularly rural Minnesota. Through the Voting Equipment Grant Account
that we established, over 300,000 voters have been using the latest in
ballot counting machines. For those voters, it means that any mistakes a
voter may make will be corrected before the ballot is cast or counted. It
also means that the election judges in those precincts will now be able to
avoid counting ballots by hand and get home at a reasonable hour after the
polls close.
Do you support or oppose voting by mail on a regular basis? Why or why not?
Over the last four years, I have judged election administration reforms on
the basis of a balanced approach to the voter right principles of Access,
Accuracy, Integrity and Privacy. These same principles must be used when
considering voting by mail. In this light, I support Minnesota's
long-standing and successful practice of permitting individuals to vote
through the absentee ballot process that is most often conducted through the
mail. In the 2000 general election, 163,000 voters used this process - the
highest % in our state's history - which serves the personal needs of our
citizens while maintaining an outlet for their interest in the political
process.