Ritchie looks to tweak voter registration system

SAINT PAUL, Minn. --  Minnesota's voter registration system has long been considered a model for the nation, so much so that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is often asked to speak to congressional committees and elections groups in other states seeking the keys to success.

And yet that hasn't stopped Ritchie from trying to improve it, tapping into new technology in ways that would make the voter rosters more current and reliable.

"With modern technology and the new lists that are available that there are things we can do better, to make it more automatic," Ritchie told reporters Thursday, "We call it 21st Century, but in any case we can do better."

Thursday Ritchie invited Capitol reporters to a briefing, explaining in detail how the registration system works. He pointed out the registration rolls change constantly, especially around Election Day thanks to same day registration.

"That list is wrong by at least 600,000 names in that month before the election because on Election Day we will register between 500,000 and 600,000 people in a Presidential year."

Several of Ritchie's initiatives made it through the legislature in 2009 but didn't get past Governor Pawlenty's desk for a variety of reasons.

Voting by felons

One of those election reform bills would've required judges to inform convicted felons in writing they've lost their right to vote, and on the back end would mandate that parole officers inform convicts they've regained that right.

"One of the things we've discovered in talking to county attorneys is the law requires proof of intent in order to prosecute," Ritchie said, "The judges do not tell people being convicted often that they're losing their right to vote, the forms that are handed out don't include that."

The Dakota County attorney's office is in the process of reviewing 95 reports of possible voter fraud, but according to documents released Thursday night 46 of those were either turned down or closed without filing of charges.

In a letter to one of those voters, Steven Northbird, Dakota County attorney James Backstrom points out that he was convicted of fleeing a peace officer in 2005 and yet voted in the November 2006 election.

Backstrom reminds Northbird the voter registration card and the voting roster he signed warns that those convicted of felonies can't vote until they're off probation and had their civil rights restored.

He goes on to tell Northbird that he won't pursue criminal charges "in the interest of justice and because you may have been confused regarding whether you could vote." But he cautioned him not to vote again until his rights are restored.

In a note to Deputy Secretary of State Jim Gelbmann, Backstrom says the warning is a standard procedure in cases like Northbird's because the felons didn't realize their crime was a felony, or didn't understand the ban extends through the end of probation.

In a memo to Backstrom, assistant County Attorney Amy Schaffer said 49 of the cases are still in the investigation stage, with information being sought from local police agencies.

Violations rare

It's still extremely rare for felons to vote in Minnesota, but one high profile case came to light during the Senate recount drama in January.  Eric Willems, a 25-year-old man who served time for sexual contact with a minor, registered for the first time on Election Day in Roseau County and voted illegally.

Willems told the Grand Forks Herald that he didn't realize he wouldn't be eligible to vote under conditions of his sentence until 2011 when the community portion of his term expired. He pled guilty and served another 30 days.

"The young man called his parole officer, but got an answering machine," Ritchie said, "If he had gotten a person would he have been told no you can't vote? And would that have saved the taxpayers a lot of money."

Deceased voters

Another vetoed bill would've given Ritchie's office authority to cross check voter rolls against the Department of Public Safety's records to verify citizenship status, and compare voter rolls to the Social Security Administration's death records database.

It's not that he's fielded any complaints about people posing as dead voters. It's more an issue of sparing their survivors from being contacted by campaigns that buy copies of the voter rolls.

"It's making sure that somebody's who is deceased is marked so that candidates stop calling, stop knocking on doors, stop sending mail."

Ritchie still receives political mailings addressed to his daughter Rachel who was killed by a wrong way drunk driver in the year 2000.

"It feels terrible to get a letter to a loved one you've lost year after year after year," Ritchie said, "It can be something that starts the grieving all over again."

Ritchie said he's hopeful many of the bills vetoed by Governor Pawlenty this year will be revived in time for the 2010 election. He draws hope from the fact that other reforms, including the one that led to a sizable increase in overseas voting, were knocked down by Pawlenty in 2007 but then signed when they passed again in 2008.

A conservative group known as Minnesota Majority, backed by several Republican lawmakers, filed a lawsuit against Ritchie directly with the Minnesota Supreme Court, claiming the voter registration system hadn't been updated fully since the November election.

The high court strongly hinted in an order June 5th that it won't take the case, because it's the type of claim that should be initiated with an administrative judge first.  Ritchie's office has been working with election clerks from the 87 counties and dozens of municipalities to update voter histories to reflect 2008's elections.

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