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NEW
REPORT
DETAILS
ROUND-TRIP
DRIVING
DISTANCES
OF
70
MILES
OR
MORE
FOR
VOTERS
TO
OBTAIN
AN
ID
OR
HAVE
BALLOTS
COUNTED
Should
constitutional
amendment
pass,
new
two-step
provisional
balloting
system
would
place
geographical
travel
hurdles
in
front
of
many
eligible
voters
St.
Paul,
MN
A
report
issued
by
the
Minnesota
Council
of
Nonprofits
details
the
round-trip
travel
distances
for
Minnesotans
to
either
have
their
ballot
counted
or
to
obtain
a
voter
ID
should
a
constitutional
amendment
restricting
voting
pass
this
November
and
a
complicated
new
system
of
provisional
balloting
go
into
effect.
Distances
run
the
gamut,
with
many
requiring
voters
to
travel
seventy
miles
or
more
roundtrip
to
ensure
their
provisional
ballots
are
certified
in
the
days
following
an
election.
Luchelle
Stevens,
manager
of
the
Our
Vote
Our
Future
campaign
which
is
working
to
defeat
the
amendment,
said
the
report
reflects
significant
barriers
to
voters
around
the
state,
especially
those
in
rural
areas
and
seniors
in
nursing
homes.
Eligible
voters
in
Greater
Minnesota
will
have
to
spend
considerable
time
driving,
to
present
documents
to
obtain
the
required
ID
and
then
driving
again
in
the
days
following
an
election
to
have
their
provisional
vote
certified
at
their
county
auditors
office.
Its
a
big
hassle
that
will
prevent
thousands
of
eligible
voters
from
participating
in
our
democracy
and
having
their
voice
heard.
Since
the
amendment
on
the
November
ballot
does
not
include
enacting
legislation
nor
spells
out
critical
details
such
as
how
provisional
balloting
would
work,
or
how
voters
would
obtain
the
free
voter
ID,
the
report
is
based
on
assumptions
derived
from
the
2011
voter
ID
elections
legislation,
SF
509/HF
210,
that
was
vetoed
by
Governor
Dayton.
The
Minnesota
Council
of
Nonprofits
report
used
GIS
software
to
calculate
the
distances
and
lists
counties
alphabetically,
from
Aitkin
to
Yellow
Medicine,
with
roundtrip
distances
itemized
for
travel
to
the
nearest
county
auditor
or
municipal
clerk
to
have
their
provisional
ballot
counted
or
to
obtain
an
ID
at
one
of
114
eligible
Department
of
Vehicle
Services
(DVS)
office
sites.
A
sampling
of
distances
a
voter
in
a
particular
municipality
would
be
required
to
travel
to
the
nearest
county
auditor
or
DVS
office
includes:
County
Municipality
Round-Trip
Travel
Brown
Comfrey
69
miles
Cass
East
Gull
Lake
112
miles
Goodhue
Kenyon
81
miles
Hennepin
St.
Bonifacius
56
miles
Kanabec
Pomroy
114
miles
The report also provides an alphabetical listing of nursing homes around the state and the travel distances to county sites from these senior residences. Stevens said the amendment as written fails to safeguard the voting rights of seniors living in these care centers, many who have voted for decades and who do not have the kind of ID the amendment would require voters to carry. And unlike some other states with voter ID laws on the books, the amendment the legislature placed on the November ballot provides no exceptions or provisions for seniors, military voters or veterans. With just five weeks to go before Election Day, Stevens believes Minnesotans are catching on to the fact that the amendment isnt as simple as they once thought. Minnesotans are proud of our elections system here and the more they learn about this costly and complicated amendment the more theyre saying its wrong for our state. For more information on the report, please contact Jeff Narabrook at the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits at jnarabrook@minnesotanonprofits.org. # # # Our Vote Our Future is the multi-partisan statewide ballot initiative campaign to defeat the voter restriction amendment which will appear on Minnesotas November 6, 2012 general election ballot. For more information, please visit www.OurVoteOurFuture.org or follow @OurVoteMN.