Voter-registration changes face first full-scale test
By BRIAN BAKST Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press - Sunday, September 12, 2004
· ST. PAUL

As important as WHO prevails in a smattering of primary election contests Tuesday is HOW voting goes in the statewide debut of a new registration system.

Minnesota's top election official, Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, describes the changes as behind-the-scenes upgrades most voters won't notice as they cast ballots. But they've left some local election authorities on edge.

"We're nervous," said Chisago County Auditor Dennis Freed. "This thing has not been driven in an election. There's a lot of things that have changed that we're not sure are going to be right or not because they have not really been tested."

The centerpiece is a $4 million computer system that connects all local voter rolls with state and federal databases and that allows officials to more easily modify inaccurate or outdated records. New voters and those with changed addresses must provide a drivers' license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number so officials can verify their identity.

The registration changes grew out of the federal Help America Vote Act, which Congress passed in the shadow of the 2000 election turmoil. They didn't get as much attention as another HAVA directive that states phase out lever and punch-card machines by 2006.

Most states sought and received waivers that gave them until 2006 to revamp registries. But Kiffmeyer pressed to complete the task this year, saying Minnesota had a centralized system it could build on and didn't have to start from scratch like states that put it off.

"I don't care when you make change or when you do it, there are always concerns and the presumption that if we were on the old system there wouldn't be any problems," Kiffmeyer said. "That's just not the case."

She said her staff has spent countless hours combing through the system, addressing concerns brought to their attention and paying site visits to county auditors to give them hands-on assistance.

Still, the primary represents a working dress rehearsal - likely the only one in most parts of the state - for the higher stakes Nov. 2 voting.

The conversion has caused plenty of consternation among local election officials, who regard the changes as worthwhile but too ambitious in a year with such a hotly contested presidential race.

One auditor who oversaw a special election this summer told a Senate panel that names of some pre-registered voters were absent from rosters and other glitches forced voters to re-register at the polls.

Kiffmeyer said that Aug. 10 election was held at the height of the switchover and said the new system was unfairly blamed for the omissions. Under a decades-old Minnesota law, she said, voters who register within three weeks of an election must re-register at the polls.

It's not clear how many voters will encounter similar circumstances Tuesday or in November.

"For the voter that is already registered and hasn't moved, they should be just fine. For a person who is not currently registered or if they have moved it could present a potential concern. It's going to be very, very taxing on the system on Election Day," said Sen. Chuck Wiger, DFL-North St. Paul, who has held Senate Election Committee hearings on the changes and plans another checkup after the primary.

Moreso in November, when a heavy turnout is predicted, some election supervisors and lawmakers fear polling places will be snarled to the point that impatient voters leave rather than wait in line.

"It could be a more difficult voting process than we're used to in Minnesota," said Luci Botzek, head of the Minnesota Association of County Officers.

"It actually is a good system - or it will be when it's all done, tested and operational," she said. "The issue here is not the system. The issue is the rollout of a brand new system in a presidential election year after starting in June and it's still not complete."

Not all election officials openly worry about Election Day headaches from the new setup. Pamela Fuller, who oversees voting in Olmsted County, said any change of this magnitude is bound to bring ups and downs.

"Things have gotten better since it was implemented as far as speed and error messages and things like that," Fuller said. "Hopefully, it's OK."