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Press Release: Republican Party of Minnesota Calls for Full Investigation of State Absentee Ballot Procedures

St. Paul- Republican Party of Minnesota Chairman Tony Sutton and Deputy Chairman Michael Brodkorb today wrote the chair of the House State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee and the chair of the State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee to request a formal investigation into the state’s absentee ballot program based upon a KSTP television news report which outlined serious flaws with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s administration of elections in Minnesota.

October 30, 2009

Chair Gene Pelowski Jr.
State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections Committee
491 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
St. Paul MN 55155

Chair Ann Rest
State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee
75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Capitol Building, Room 205
St. Paul MN 55155-1606

Dear Chair Pelowski and Chair Rest,

We are writing to request a formal investigation into the state’s absentee ballot program based upon a KSTP television news report of October 29, 2009 which outlined serious flaws with Secretary of State Mark Ritchie’s administration of elections in Minnesota.

In his role as the chief of elections official for our state, Mr. Ritchie maintained to KSTP that there were no problems with the state’s absentee ballot program and he refused to acknowledge the glaring absentee ballot disparities which exist across the state and were referenced by local election officials in the KSTP investigation.  At one point, Ritchie even blithely told the KSTP reporter, “You would have had to tell me to bring my glasses” after he was presented with a series of absentee ballots which were treated inconsistently by local election officials.

Mr. Ritchie’s failure to properly train local election officials is clear and it is unacceptable.  In a state which has often served as a national model in fairness and transparency, Mr. Ritchie’s denials of obvious facts are deeply disconcerting.  There is no question absentee ballots were treated differently across the state.  This disparate treatment of voters must be addressed before another Minnesotan is unfairly disenfranchised before the next statewide election.

To restore public trust in our elections system, we believe it is essential for a full accounting of the procedures and policies of absentee ballots as administered by the Office of Secretary of State.

Sincerely,

Tony Sutton, Chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota

Michael Brodkorb, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Minnesota

Cc: All House State and Local Government Operations Reform, Technology and Elections members; All Senate State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee members

CONTACT: MARK DRAKE
651-842-0115 (WORK)
651-472-3978 (CELL)