Senate Elections Bill Makes our Elections Riskier, Weaker, Less Transparent, and Less Trustworthy
Friends and neighbors,
On Thursday night, the Senate approved the Democrats’ partisan election bill. As the lead Republican on the elections committee, I can tell you that the bill is troubling. It makes Minnesota’s elections weaker, riskier, less transparent, and less trustworthy. Minnesota has a long tradition of only approving election law changes with bipartisan support precisely to avoid bills like this. It is disappointing that Democrats have thrown out that time-honored custom. We should prioritize efforts to help our local elections officials run safe, secure, transparent, and accessible elections. This bill takes us in the opposite direction.
Key provisions of the bill:
- Moves Minnesota closer to implementing a controversial Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) program by approving funding for an RCV Task Force and providing RCV education to municipalities
- Weakens residency requirements to give candidates the ability to simply claim that they “maintain residence” in a chosen location
- Weakens election integrity by establishing a permanent early voting period in Minnesota. Counties and cities have expressed concern about this provision due to the added demands it would place on local election officials
- Infringes on free speech rights by prohibiting certain clothing and attire at polling places. This provision contradicts Supreme Court precedent
Amendments Republicans offered to try to improve it:
- Remove the Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Task Force and put that money into the Safe at Home program, which supports victims of domestic violence or sexual assault
- Remove the RCV Task Force and shift funding to provisional ballots, which add a layer of election security for new voters
- Increase transparency and strengthen candidate residency requirements by removing the dubious “maintain residence” language
- Encourage participation in our republic by limiting fees for local elected positions to be no more than $25
$10 Billion in Tax Increases in Democrat Budget Proposals!
The most common piece of feedback I get from constituents is, “give back the surplus.” Earlier this session, we announced our plan to do just that. We called it the “Give it Back” plan.
Unfortunately, with about 5 weeks left in session we haven’t seen any real, significant tax relief plan from Senate Democrats.
But we have seen proposals for tax increases. A lot of them. After adding it all up, we discovered that Democrats are proposing nearly $10 billion in tax hikes!
Read more about them here: Senate GOP Exposes Nearly $10Billion in Tax Hikes
Contact Me
I love hearing your feedback. It helps me serve you to the best of my ability. If you have any questions about any issues we are working on at the legislature, feel free to contact me any time at sen.mark.koran@senate.mn or 651-296-5155.
And you can always get the latest news from St. Paul on my Facebook page at /MarkKoranforSenate.
It is a privilege to serve you!
