Mary Kiffmeyer - Minnesota Secretary of State

Minnesota Secretary of State

Minnesota has traditionally been a high voter turnout state and led the nation from 1996 through 2010. This leadcontinued during and after Kiffmeyers tenure, from 2000 through 2008. http://elections.gmu.edu/voter_turnout.htmIn 2004, Minnesota had 77.7% voter turnout, the highest in the state since 1960. She transformed a state website allowing users to register to vote, find and get directions to their local precincts, and see who their local candidates are in the upcoming election.

Beginning in 2003, Minnesota law allowed Native American tribal ID cards to be used by members of tribes living on reservations for election-day registration, but not members living off reservations. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint, ACLU v. Kiffmeyer, on behalf of urban members of Native American bands and the National Congress of American Indians. Judge James Rosenbaum issued a temporary restraining order in October 2004 which sided with the plaintiffs. The case was settled in favor of the plaintiffs in September 2005. The Minnesota Legislature subsequently amended election law to recognize this ruling.

Kiffmeyer told the attendees at a 2004 National Day of Prayer event in Minnesota that the "five words" that are "probably most destructive" in America today are "separation of church and state". Kiffmeyer later said, "It's not the words that are destructive, it's the way they are interpreted. There are a lot of good church people who don't think they can be involved in government."

On election day 2006, Kiffmeyer supported a decision by local election judges to not allow some University of Minnesota students that lived near the campus to register to vote because they had inadequate proof of residence. A Hennepin County judge overruled this decision the same day, but it was unclear how many of the students returned to the polls.

After Kiffmeyer left office, a routine Legislative audit was conducted on the Secretary of State's office for 2005 and 2006. This audit concluded that the office hired 16 employees at a pay rate that exceeded their collective bargaining agreement without obtaining approval from the Department of Employee Relations, resulting in total overpayment to employees of over $190,000. The explanation given in the audit was because the office mistakenly believed it retained this delegated authority. There were also instances where her mileage reimbursement was calculated from her home near Big Lake instead of from her Saint Paul office, with a lack of a clear "public purpose" explanation for some of her travels.