Kiffmeyer at odds with election officials
Mike Kaszuba,  Star Tribune
July 15, 2004 KIFF0715

With a certainty that has become her hallmark, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer continues to push past critics to install a new computer voter-registration system on the eve of one of the most hotly contested presidential elections in recent history.

"There's no good time. Elections are all the time," she said of the $4 million computer system, which was tested for the first time only two weeks ago with favorable results. "For some people, change is more difficult than for others."

For many of Minnesota's local election supervisors, however, the difficulty is with Kiffmeyer herself. In her sixth year as the state's top election official, she is widely viewed by some of her local counterparts as an unbending manager who rarely listens to their views.

"I would say 90 percent of the folks have a very high frustration level," said Luci Botzek, who heads the Minnesota Association of County Officers. "It's not a healthy relationship. There isn't any trust on either side."

Patty O'Connor, the top election official in Blue Earth County, was more blunt. "It's gone from bad to worse," she said.

Kiffmeyer maintains that she is doing her best to make sure all Minnesotans find it easy to register and vote, a goal she contends is sometimes frustrated by local officials who are reluctant to adopt new technology. The world, she said, has changed since her predecessor, DFLer Joan Growe, was in office.

Growe, who held the job for two decades, did not have to deal with Y2K scares or federal election rules adopted in the wake of the 2000 presidential election vote recount in Florida, Kiffmeyer said. "You can't compare this time ... with any previous time," she added.

Although most local election leaders deny politics are involved in their criticisms, Kiffmeyer's strong conservative political views have made her a target for Democrats and other critics who contend that she has instituted policies that make voting more complicated and restrictive, especially for the poor and minority group members. At an election training session in St. Cloud in May, according to witnesses, some county election officials wore patriotic clothing in an attempt to poke fun at Kiffmeyer's tendency to wear red, white and blue.

The friction has added to what already is shaping up to be a stressful election season. State and local officials are implementing a complicated new federal election law known as the Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which is designed to prevent the problems that plagued the widely disputed 2000 presidential election.

The new computer system is part of that effort. Kiffmeyer said Minnesota is one of only 13 states that did not seek and receive a federal waiver allowing it to postpone introducing the technology until 2006.

Kevin Corbid, the chief election official in Washington County, said that while he believes the new computer system "will run smoothly," introducing it so close to an election "adds another layer of difficulty. Certainly, the timing is tight," he said. "I'm trying to keep a positive relationship with the secretary of state's office."

The state League of Women Voters also has expressed concerns about whether the new computer system will be ready for the November election, but the group isn't choosing sides in the tussle between Kiffmeyer and local election leaders.

"I think the officials concerned think they're doing the very best for the voters," said Sally Sawyer, executive director of the League. "I think they're doing their jobs."

The computer system tested successfully this summer in two small Dakota County special elections.

'Chasm of distrust'

By her own admission, Kiffmeyer's skirmishes with county election officials began soon after she took office in January 1999. She said, however, that much of the criticism comes with the job. "When you're in a position of leadership, you're going to get whacked," she said.

She said she has long studied the nuances of election law and that "when I worked as an election judge, I would read the election law rather than Better Homes & Gardens."

It was that familiarity with the law, she said, that led her to conclude this year that Hennepin and Ramsey counties were in "blatant violation" of federal election laws by requiring voters to include photocopies of identification papers when they registered to vote by mail. In March, she demanded that federal officials take action against the two counties.

However, last month the U.S. Department of Justice ruled that the counties were not violating any laws. Randy Johnson, the Hennepin County Board chairman and, like Kiffmeyer, a Republican, asked her to apologize for "an appalling lack of expertise." But in an interview last week, Kiffmeyer continued to insist that her analysis was correct, and she said she remained "aghast" at the counties' actions, which, she said, made it "more difficult for voters", especially minority members and the poor.

Gregory Gray, a consultant with the Minneapolis Urban League, said he shared some of Kiffmeyer's concerns about the local registration rules but didn't agree with her decision to make a federal case of it.

"I think they're all adults, and they should be able to work it out without the U.S. attorney," he said. "What it reflects is the chasm of distrust, in this case between Democrats and Republicans, liberals and conservatives," he said.

The distrust erupted again Wednesday, when DFLers, led by Growe, blasted Kiffmeyer for allegedly trying to change voting rules, including those involving registration forms and absentee voting forms, without a public hearing or discussion.

"The rush, the secrecy, so late into an election, should give every voter pause. She is trying to do behind closed doors what should be done in public," said DFL Chairman Mike Erlandson.

Kiffmeyer responded that she is merely using the authority given her by the Legislature to implement changes needed to ensure that Minnesota election practices conform with the new federal rules. All of her plans were discussed at legislative hearings before the session adjourned without passing a bill including the proposed changes, she said.

"It's just too bad that some of this negative politics has to go on," she said Wednesday.

Such disputes predate the current dissension.

In February 2002, Kiffmeyer was sued by Erlandson to block what he and some county election officials said was the hurried installation of the state's current computer voter-registration system, known as the Voter Election Management System, or VEMS. Less than a week after the suit was filed, Kiffmeyer signed a letter of agreement in which she promised that her office would offer additional training, and included assurances that VEMS did have a computer backup system and that pertinent records would not be purged.

The new system, known as the Statewide Voter Registration System, or SVRS, can accommodate 4,000 users, said Kiffmeyer, while VEMS "struggled" to handle 350 users. She said the system was successfully tested for the first time during the June 29 special state legislative primary election in Dakota County.

The SVRS is getting early praise, even from Kiffmeyer's critics, but "it was a fairly small sample," said Carol Leonard, Dakota County's top election official. The county election drew only 6 percent of eligible voters.

"[Nevertheless] it did work," Leonard said. The system again performed well during another special election held in the county on Tuesday, she said.

Many say the feuding will not end there, though.

Ramsey County officials, for instance, have discussed legal action to resolve a dispute with Kiffmeyer over the design of voter registration cards.

Dorothy McClung, the top election official in Ramsey County who previously served as state commissioner of revenue under Republican Gov. Arne Carlson, said the red, white and blue voter registration cards designed by Kiffmeyer's office were "pretty" but "hard to understand."

"You've got to do a black and white card," she said.

Kiffmeyer's difficulties with county officials in outstate Minnesota are, in many cases, also related to the new federal election law, HAVA, particularly the law's requirement that all state voters be treated equally.

While Kiffmeyer wants to satisfy that requirement by having all outstate counties acquire the same sophisticated voting machines found in the metro area, Pam Heeren, chief election official in Hubbard County in northern Minnesota, said that such an undertaking would be too expensive and that there are other ways to meet the law's requirements. Heeren said she and a "very irate" Kiffmeyer, who said $38 million in federal money will be available for Minnesota to make the changes, have clashed on the issue over the phone.

Some local officials said they try to see beyond the personality clashes.

"Mary does have some strong ideas," said Fran Windschitl, the top election official in Rice County and a member of a state election advisory group on how to implement HAVA. "There's good things Mary does," said Windschitl, who said he is trying to remain neutral, "[but] I don't know who I could say has been 100 percent supportive [of her]."

Mark Meuwissen, the chief election official in Stevens County, tries to take the long view.

"Ten or 15 years from now," he said, "I'll think what she's doing was very good ... [but] there's a lot of conflict here."