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From: Chuck Ripley
Chair, Winona Human
Rights Commission
In its October meeting, the Winona Human Rights Commission voted to oppose the proposed Voter ID amendment for the following reasons:
1. The ID requirement will effectively disenfranchise groups including military personnel serving overseas and those protected by the Minnesota Human Rights Act, particularly the poor, disabled, and elderly.
2. There have been NO demonstrated cases of voter fraud tahat this amendment would remedy. In the Coleman/Franken recount, the only “fraud” uncovered was 26 persons on parole who voted not knowing that doing so was prohibited by law. The proposed amendment would not address this issue.
3. The amendment does not provide for any funding mechanism for its mandate on local government. Since the estimated cost of state implementation is between 30 and 50 million, property taxes WILL go up.
In short, the Vote ID Amendment fails to address any real problems, creates new ones, and will cost too much.
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