Planned Parenthood Advocate

Planned Parenthood: Obama Reelection, Minnesota Triumphs Are ‘Resounding Victory For Women, By Women’

President Obama’s reelection – and the state-level successes in Minnesota – are a historic victory for women’s health, according to the Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota Action Fund (PPMNSAF).

“This is a resounding victory for women – and by women. More than ever before, women’s health was a decisive issue in this election. Minnesotans voted to ensure that women will have access to affordable health care and be able to make their own medical decisions,” said Sarah Stoesz, President of the PPMNSAF.

Help Planned Parenthood Get Out The Vote!

We’re in the final days of the election season. Join Planned Parenthood this weekend for a phone bank finale in St. Paul. We’ll be calling to ensure people have vital voter information like where to vote and what to bring. In addition, we’ll be asking folks to stand with Planned Parenthood and vote “NO” on the two constitutional amendments that are on the MN ballot.

According to a Star Tribune poll, the marriage amendment is a virtual tie. The Photo-ID amendment is close as well, with 6% of Minnesota voters undecided. These amendments would change the Minnesota Constitution. In addition, the Photo-ID amendment would have a devastating effect on future elections.

If you’d like to join us this weekend please RSVP to ashcmitz@ppmns.org. The phone banks will all be held at 671 Vandalia St. in St. Paul. There is a parking ramp available.

Phone Bank Times Include:

-        Saturday 11/3 from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. AND 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

-        Sunday 11/4 from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. AND 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

-        Monday 11/5 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

No prior phone-banking experience is required. In fact, it is pretty easy. You will be helping lots of Minnesota voters find essential voter information!  

Minnesota Same-Day Voter Registration Information - It’s Not Too Late!

All the discussion about voter registration and voter ID laws can be confusing. The Minnesota deadline to pre-register to vote was October 16. It’s not too late to register to vote. Minnesota allows voters to use same-day registration to vote. According to the MN Secretary of State, over 500,000 people used same-day registration in 2008. In fact, around 61% of voters in Minnesota have used same-day registration at some point.

Minnesota allows voters to register on Election Day at their polling place. Same-day registration isn’t just for new voters. If you were previously registered to vote but have moved, changed your name or have not voted for four consecutive years you will need to use same day registration. Also, if you received a notice of late registration from your county auditor or city clerk you will need to use same day registration. Minnesota provides a helpful voter registration lookup to check your registration.

Find out if you're registered here. 

If you need to use same day registration, you will need to provide proof of residence. There are a variety of ways through which you can do so.

Here's what to bring.

In addition, if you live in a nursing home, veterans home, group housing, homeless shelter, battered women’s shelter, or transitional housing you can still register to vote! An employee of the facility you live in can vouch for your residency through a written form.

Are you worried about getting to the polls? For some facilities (like nursing homes) the law allows you to designate someone to bring you a ballot. You will need to fill out a request form and the links are provided below.

Residential Facility Registration

Residential Facility Voting

So what’s all this about voter ID? The ballot for the 2012 election will include a proposed amendment to change the Minnesota Constitution. Voters will decide whether to change the constitution or to leave the constitution the way it currently is. Voting registration and procedures will remain the same for the 2012 election. However, if passed, these changes would severely impact future elections, including ending same-day voter registration. It would change how you vote, who can vote, and increase the financial cost of elections.

Voter Restriction Amendment Impact On Future Elections

Marriage Amendment: Not In the Hands of Voters

Supporters of the Marriage Amendment, including the group Minnesota for Marriage, predict catastrophic dangers for Minnesota if the Marriage Amendment fails to pass. The Amendment would define marriage only between one man and one woman. It would also make it a constitutional requirement to only recognize marriage between one man and one woman.

Supporters of the proposal argue that unless the measure passes marriage will be redefined for everyone, education will change, religious organizations will face legal trouble, individuals who oppose same-sex marriage will face legal trouble, poverty will increase, and marriage rates will decrease.

Is this future of Minnesota? Just next door, Iowa has allowed same-sex marriages since 2009. According to the CDC marriage rates and divorce rates have pretty much remained the same. In fact, the only measurable change has been economic. Same-sex unions have added millions of dollars to the Iowa economy. Between wedding arrangements and tourism it is estimated that same-sex marriage has contributed between $12-$20 million dollars to the state’s economy.

Several months after the Iowa Supreme Court overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, the Des Moines Register polled Iowans on the issue. About 40 percent said they supported banning same-sex marriage. Another 40 percent were not in favor of a ban. Most importantly, 92% of Iowans stated that same-sex marriage had no impact on their lives.

This amendment doesn’t ban same-sex marriage. The state of Minnesota already prohibits same-sex marriage. The state also does not recognize same-sex marriages- including couples that were legally married in other states. This amendment doesn’t protect school curriculum from changing. This amendment doesn’t protect individual opinion regarding same-sex marriage or the LGBT community. Individuals can still publicly support or publicly oppose same-sex marriage.

Supporters of this amendment argue that it allows voters to decide the future of same-sex marriage in Minnesota. This amendment would not allow citizens to challenge current same-sex marriage laws through the court system. It would also not allow the issue to be decided through the legislative process. Most importantly, it would not allow voters to decide.

If this amendment passes, the only way to change it would be through another amendment repealing the first one. This can only occur every two years. Minnesota doesn’t allow citizens to petition to place an amendment on the ballot.  In order to repeal this amendment a majority of the state house and senate would have to vote to put it on the ballot. This process only leaves the decision to voters if the legislature decides to give it to voters.

To read the amendments as they will appear on the ballot please check out the Minnesota Secretary of State's website: http://www.sos.state.mn.us/index.aspx?page=1719

What's at stake with Voter ID?

While groups all across Minnesota fight against the Photo ID Amendment, an amendment that would require government-issued photo ID before voting and would disenfranchise thousands of voters, a larger battle over voter registration and suppression rages on at a national level.

On September 12^th, Elisabeth MacNamara, the president of the League of Women Voters of the United States, testified before a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing and spoke about the importance of maintaining and protecting voters’ rights.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization that was founded in 1920, six months before the ratification of the 19^th Amendment. Since literally the beginning of women’s right to vote in the United States, the League has been there to advocate for voters’ rights and make sure that everyone has the opportunity to have their voices heard in the elections. The League does not endorse any parties or candidates, but strives to provide equality and advocacy for all voters.

In MacNamara’s statement, she brought forward accounts of disenfranchised voters all over the country, victims of voter registration laws: elderly men and women unable to provide the needed paperwork to apply for government identification; college students sent vague, threatening letters from government officials, implying that they would have to un-register as voters because their cars were not registered in-state; disabled veterans unable to afford the time and money needed to procure the proper documentation of their identities. These harrowing personal accounts were just snapshots in the wave of numbers, as a study by the Brennan Center for Justice found that as many as five million eligible voters may be disenfranchised by new state voting laws. Compare this to the fact that not one case of voter fraud has been definitively found.

MacNamara ended her testimony with a plea to the judiciary to step in and held defend voters’ rights in the United States: “Our message, Mr. Chairman, was simply put by President Lincoln during the Civil War.  The United States must be a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” Restrictions on the right to vote limit the role of citizens in our democracy and are simply unacceptable.  So too are the decisions that have turned special interests loose to dominate our elections and distort our democracy.  We have a lot of work ahead” (MacNamara 11).

So while we fight to stop the voter restriction amendment in Minnesota, we are part of a larger movement to ensure suffrage for all Americans, as has been the law since women fought hard for those rights, 92 years ago.

To read the entirety of MacNamara’s testimony, visit http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/9-12-12MacNamaraTestimony.pdf.

To learn more about the voter restriction amendment in Minnesota and how to fight back against its attempt at voter suppression, visit http://www.ourvoteourfuture.org/.

To find out more about voter registration and pledge to vote, visit http://womenvote2012.blogspot.com/.

 

Citations

MacNamara, Elisabeth. United States. United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. STATEMENT BY ELISABETH MACNAMARA, PRESIDENT LEAGUE OF WOMEN VOTERS OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE SENATE COMMITTEE ON THE JUDICIARY ON THE CITIZENS UNITED COURT AND THE CONTINUING IMPORTANCE OF THE VOTING RIGHTS ACT. Washington DC: , 2012. Web. <http://www.judiciary.senate.gov/pdf/9-12-12MacNamaraTestimony.pdf>.