Reply #13: MN Secy of State Kiffmeyer rushed to put a new registration system in [View All]

this year. There were widespread problems with it - there were hearings on the issue and Kiffmeyer failed to attend them.

Lawyers! Please flock to Minnesota asap! We've got a Dem Senator up for re-election in two years - Mark Dayton, who is a bulldog on every issue - we can't let them knock one of our good people out!

Kiffmeyer's rush creates worry
http://www.spokesman-recorder.com/news/Article/Article.asp?NewsID=47971&sID=4

Last week, we described widespread concerns over the implementation of a controversial new voter registration system in Minnesota, many of which were aired at an August 24 hearing of the State Senate Elections Committee. This week, state senators react and the secretary of state responds.

Senators on the committee were appalled, particularly John Hottinger, John Marty, and Linda Higgins.At different times, Hottinger said, “We’re trying to do too much too fast,” and “We shouldn’t be leading the way in voters backed up” in the system.

Marty was critical of Minnesota Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer’s failure to attend hearings, saying that he has repeatedly heard of the secretary of state’s office making things harder for counties rather than easier.

About the “time out” feature in the computer system, Higgins said, “There’s no reason on God’s green earth to time people out... It’s an unnecessary control... It’s a waste of time and taxpayer’s money, and it’s got to stop... It’s unacceptable.”

Higgins also questioned why Kiffmeyer had not sought a waiver to buy more time to make sure that the system works. Officials from Stevens, Nobles and Cook counties had sent emails complaining about technical problems.

snip - much more...

Elections officials press worries about new registration system
http://news.minnesota.publicradio.org/features/2004/09/30_ap_elx/

Dozens of county election officials say they're encountering significant problems with the state's new central voter registration system. Election workers say the system is unable to handle this year's unprecedented volume of new voter registrations, and that they've had to work extended hours to overcome the system's shortcomings. Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer introduced the new system this year. She says her office is working diligently to address complaints and that voters have no reason to doubt the system's performance.

snip

Forty other states have received waivers to postpone the federally-mandated systems until after November. Kiffmeyer says Minnesota was far enough ahead of the curve not to require a waiver.

Beth Fraser of the Minnesota Alliance for Progressive Action directed a survey of county staff that shows two-thirds of respondents encountered error messages or slow response times while using the new system. Fraser says it's not enough that the system will improve with more troubleshooting.

"It's great to hear that the counties think this is going to be a good system. But it needs to work now. There's not time to work out the bugs anymore. So it has to be fixed so that it stops kicking users off, timing them out, leading to lost data and frustration," Fraser said.