Rep. Kahn mentioned problems at her precinct:
> And all of this had to be done with judges from two different parties for
each ballot. Again in one precinct there was only one republican judge
making a balanced work load impossible. =====
[KB] On 3/24/99, I posted to this list about the restriction on election
judge eligibility.* According to both the City of Minneapolis and the
Secretary of State, a person must represent one of Minnesota's major
political parties. Until Tuesday's result, this meant a person had to swear
allegiance to the DFL, GOP, I.P., or Constitution Party. Now the C.P. has
been replaced by the Green Party as a "major".
Why exclude anyone who's willing and otherwise eligible?
I've corresponded with the SoS's office about the restriction. One answer I
got included the statement that they were having no problems recruiting
election judges.
Minnesota's partisan restriction on election judge eligibility needs to be
changed. Perhaps Rep. Kahn would be willing to introduce remedial
legislation that would enable any citizen eligible to vote to become an
election judge. She could partially rebut the SoS's statement by pointing
out that her precinct had a shortage.
--Ken Bearman, King Field
11-1, 60B, HC 3, CD5
* My post is archived at
http://www.egroups.com/message/mpls-issues/604 .
