Oppose Barriers to Voting:
Please Call House Members Immediately

House File 1443 creates extraordinary burdens on Minnesota voters and inhibits voting in Minnesota. It passed in the House Civil Law and Elections Committee on March 15 and is anticipated to go to the floor for a full House vote as early as the week of April 17, 2006.

The bill requires that every voter provides a birth certificate, passport, or naturalization document in order to register to vote. This applies to new registrants as well as currently registered voters who must re-register because of an address or name change.
MCN opposes this portion of the bill for the following reasons:

• The requirement to provide a birth certificate, a passport, or naturalization papers presents a clear hardship to many people. The hardship associated with having to produce one these proofs of citizenship will fall disproportionately on low income people, the frail and elderly, those with limited transportation or mobility, and many first-time voters.
• HF 1443 makes voter registration drives almost impossible. Many voters welcome the opportunity to register when they go to a service agency, the Minnesota State Fair, or other places, but few carry the required documents with them in the course of their daily lives.
• HF 1443 will inhibit same day registration. It takes time and money to get one of the three prescribed ID forms. Approximately 75 percent of new voters register on Election Day. Minnesota has been proud of this honorable tradition, which has worked well and has led Minnesota to the highest voter participation in the nation.
• HF 1443 could cause Election Day problems. Under the new system, not only will the requirement to have one of the three documents in hand keep people from registering, it will also create yet another step of complexity for election officials to address. It could be one more cause of delay and confusion at the polls.

The bill also requires every voter to show a picture ID at the polls on Election Day.
MCN opposes this portion of the bill for the following reasons:

• For many people, getting the ID in a timely way is costly or physically difficult. How does a frail or elderly person, a person in a very rural area, a person with mobility barriers, or a person who can’t get away from work to get the photo taken – get the photo ID which they may need only for the purpose of voting?
• This requirement raises a lot of operational questions. How do election officials check these IDs for absentee ballot voters? What types of identification would be acceptable?

MCN opposes this legislation and urges your nonprofit, your nonprofit’s board, staff, volunteers, members, and participants to call your House member now and ask them to vote against the bill. The bill is anticipated to go to the House floor for a full vote as early as the week of April 17, 2006.

You can find out who represents you by following this link:
http://geo.commissions.leg.state.mn.us/districts/start.html

“Minnesota voters deserve a higher level of trust and a genuine interest in their participation from their government,” said Marcia Avner, MCN Public Policy Director, during her testimony before the committee on March 15, 2006.

To view Marcia Avner’s complete testimony before the committee, follow this link:
Testimony by Marcia Avner on HF 1443

(Last updated: April 2006)
Questions? Comments? Contact Christina Macklin at cmacklin@mncn.org