Action Alert: Contact you Representatives Now to Require Photo ID to Vote!

Dear Fellow Minnesota Conservative:

Our first action is around the pending legislation that would require voters to present an ID on Election Day. Specific information is included below please review prior to calling.

ACTION I.

The bill is in House Government Committee. A hearing is scheduled for Thursday, February 12 at 8:30 in State Office Building RM 200.

We have ID two members of the committee who could be moved. Please call them- especially if they are your rep.

Jeanne Poppe (DFL) (Austin, Houston, Filmore) 651-296-4193 rep.jeanne.poppe@house.mn

Jeremy Kalin (DFL) (Chisago County) 651-296-5377 rep.jeremy.kalin@house.mn

ACTION II

Look for your rep on the committee list http://www.house.leg.state.mn.us/comm/committeemembers.asp?comm=86132 and call them!

ACTION III

Forward this email to anyone who would support voter ID legislation. Please remove any headers prior to forwarding so the message stays clean.

We can win this if they hear from us. Clean elections make for clean government.

Thanks for your help!! If you (or your friends) want to continue supporting our efforts to move conservative causes, please reply to mnconservative@comcast.net. We need all the help we can get. You will receive updates on pressing legislation with a summary so you can talk intelligently about the issues as you contact your representative.

SUMMARY OF BILL

The House Bill is HF 57.

• Require photo ID when voting or when registering to vote.
• Provide provisional ballots to those who do not have ID on them - If ID is provided within 5 days, the provisional ballot will be counted.
• Provide Free Photo ID to those without the means to obtain one.

Answers to common objections:

There is no evidence of voter fraud – This is simply not true. While it is exceedingly difficult to discover and prove who the perpetrators of fraud are, there is a mountain of evidence that indicates voter fraud is likely occurring. Prosecutions and convictions of voter fraud are rare because our system makes it nearly impossible to ascertain the identity of fraudulent voters. Minnesota Majority has compiled evidence including thousands of instances that indicate errors or abuse. This evidence has been provided to law enforcement officials for investigation.

Voter registration fraud isn’t voter fraud – It is if an improper voter registration is used to cast a ballot. Information in the publicly available voter registration rolls suggests that this has likely been occurring. Voter registration fraud can also be employed to generate thousands of bogus registrations that are used to obscure inconsistencies between vote totals and legitimate registered voters.

Requiring confirmation of a voter's identity will disenfranchise voters – There is no evidence to support this claim. In fact, the opposite is true. Legitimate voters are being disenfranchised now by a failure to verify the integrity of the system. When improper ballots are commingled with legitimate ballots, there is no way to retract illegitimate ballots from the system. Defending a system that doesn’t take meaningful steps to prevent illegitimate ballots from being introduced into an election undermines the votes of legitimate voters. It has been estimated that there are only approximately 40,000 Minnesota citizens that currently don't have a government-issued photo ID. Voter ID bills introduced in the past have included funding to provide free state-issued identification cards to these individuals. These ID cards would actually benefit low-income people by helping them better integrate into society. It’s difficult to function in society, let alone get ahead without proper identification. Indiana recently enacted a voter ID requirement and enjoyed record-breaking voter participation in the 2008 election.

Michelle R. Benson

mnconservative@comcast.net

763-443-5690