Voting

MN's Attorney General Keith Ellison was back with us on KAXE/KBXE today to talk about the U.S. Postal Service and why he joined a multistate coalition in a federal lawsuit alleging violations of federal law in implementing sudden, unilateral changes. 

We welcomed back the Secretary of State today, Steve Simon.  In addition to Minnesota well on its way to becoming the state with the highest voter turnout again, the request for mail-in ballots as of Friday July 31, 2020 was at 545,000 requests by voters. In Minnesota, voting really matters.

Here's a couple of things to keep in mind when it comes to voting in 2020. 

1.  If you request a ballot by mail you don't HAVE to mail it back.  You can drop off your ballot at the address listed on the envelope - either your county offices or city offices. 

MN's Democratic Secretary of State Steve Simon faces an uphill battle. He is supporting a bill to move Minnesota into a vote-by-mail state during periods of peacetime emergency due to infectious disease outbreaks. There would still be polling places on election day for same day registration and limited in-person voting.

The MN Presidential Primary is Tuesday March 3rd.  It is the first presidential primary in our state in three decades and comes out of the chaos at the MN caucuses in 2016.

Last February, the MN Board of Animal Health and the MN DNR confirmed that Chronic Wasting Disease was the cause of the death of a deer that was recovered near a 112 acre deer farm near Merrifield in Crow Wing County.

There are about 390 captive deer and elk farms in MN.  In April, the deer in the farm near Merrifield was closed, all the deer were killed and are being tested for CWD.  In addition, about 80 deer were killed within a two mile radius of the farm and are also being tested.

Peter Callaghan from MinnPost talked with us about current bills in the MN Legislature having to do with claiming federal money for election security. 

Marshall has the scoop today on the problems for the city of Tower and the August 14th primaries, more on the PUC's meetings about Frontier Communications and a eastern orthodox church in the tiny town of Bramble. 

Minnesota can boast the #1 voter turnout in the nation...but that doesn't mean the system can't be improved upon.

MN's Secretary of State Steve Simon joined us this morning to tell us more about the integrity of Minnesota's election system, and root for the Twins of course. 

On our weekly segment Making Sausage we find out about the messy business of government and politics.  We also meet our elected officials and find out about elections and voting.  This week, longtime DFL commentator and election judge Colleen Nardone on what the constitutional amendment on the ballot is all about.  One thing we know:  if you don't vote for it you are voting NO.  The questions is:  should MN Legislators have the ability to raise their own salaries?