Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie wants to ensure that Minnesota has what he calls “an educated and engaged citizenry.” With two constitutional amendments on the ballot in November, Ritchie wants to make sure voters are fully informed and have access to the actual legislation being proposed.
“Traveling throughout the state over the past few months I have talked to many Minnesotans who did not know that the actual language of what is being proposed by the legislature to be added to our state’s constitution will not be printed on their ballot,” Ritchie wrote in a letter to the Cook County News-Herald.
“When I explain that until 20 years ago the legislature paid to have the full text of what they were proposing printed in every local newspaper, they often comment that we should go back to that practice so that voters can know what they are being asked to vote on,” Ritchie said. “I agree and will be working to convince legislators to re-establish this practice publishing the full text of proposed constitutional amendments as legal notices throughout the state.
“But for this year we have a problem. It is very hard to find out what is being proposed without spending quite a bit of time on the Internet,” Ritchie said.
“Since constitutional amendments cannot be changed by either the governor or legislators, any change will have a very long-term and profound impact,” Ritchie said. “Since constitutional changes are essentially forever, voters should know what legislators are actually proposing.”
This is what Cook County voters will be asked regarding the two proposed constitutional amendments and what the proposed additions to the constitution would be (failure to vote will have the same effect as voting no on the amendment):
Proposed amendment 1: recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to provide that only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota?
Minnesota Session Laws 2011, Chapter 88, Article XIII, Sec. 13: “Only a union of one man and one woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in Minnesota.”
Proposed amendment 2: photo identification required for voting
Shall the Minnesota Constitution be amended to require all voters to present valid photo identification to vote and to require the state to provide free identification to eligible voters, effective July 1, 2013?
Minnesota Session Laws 2012, Chapter 167, Article VII, Section 1 (b) and (c): “All voters voting in person must present valid government-issued photographic identification before receiving a ballot. The state must issue photographic identification at no charge to an eligible voter who does not have a form of identification meeting the requirements of this section. A voter unable to present government-issued photographic identification must be permitted to submit a provisional ballot. A provisional ballot must only be counted if the voter certifies the provisional ballot in the manner provided by law.
“All voters, including those not voting in person, must be subject to substantially equivalent identity and eligibility verification prior to a ballot being cast or counted.”
Additional information regarding the proposed constitutional amendments on this year’s ballot, including links to organizations representing many viewpoints, can be found on the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State website at www.mnvotes.org.
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