The Minnesota Legislature was wise to pass a series of voting reforms, but a photo-identification measure that failed should be strongly considered again next year.

Friday, July 06, 2001

The Minnesota Legislature was wise to pass a series of voting reforms, but a photo-identification measure that failed should be strongly considered again next year.

The legislature passed measures that would provide matching-grant programs for voting equipment upgrades and added a law that would trigger automatic recounts, at state expense, if the vote margin is slim enough. In light of last year’s election, these are moves that will help further insulate Minnesota against voting &uot;abnormalities&uot; that plagued Florida and some other states. In a state that takes pride in its high voter participation, this helps give us more assurance that our votes will be counted accurately and the correct result will come.

However, a sensible bill that would have required a photo ID for voters did not pass. It became caught up in partisan disputes about whether all classes of voters would be treated fairly under the measure.

It seems clear that providing a photo ID is a reasonable expectation of any voter, and such a rule would have provided one final assurance that voter fraud would be held at bay. Backers of this bill should come right back next year and make another push, and we hope it will fare better next time.