Star Tribune: ‘Rigged’ election defines GOP hopeful

Republican secretary of state candidate Kim Crockett is proposing a slate of voting restrictions she believes will boost confidence in an election system that she has attempted to undermine by falsely describing the 2020 election as illegitimate.

If elected to oversee Minnesota’s elections, Crockett said she would push to shorten the state’s early voting period from 46 days to no more than two weeks, eliminate same-day voter registration, require photo identification at polling places and limit the use of absentee ballots. The Minnesota Legislature would need to approve such changes. …

The 2020 changes affected all voters, but Crockett argues they favored Democrats, who she believes are more likely to vote by mail than Republicans.

A record-high 58% of Minnesotans voted absentee in 2020 – more than double the previous election – as people looked to reduce potential exposure to COVID-19.

Democrats and voting rights groups have sounded the alarm about Crockett’s rhetoric, saying it undercuts faith in elections, and that her policies would make it more difficult for Minnesotans to vote.

“Where we take issue is when any candidate utilizes information they know is false, data they know is suspect at best, to try and move a particular policy agenda that they know is in no way, shape or form doing anything to improve access to the ballot,” said Annastacia Belladonna-Carrera, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota, a nonpartisan voting rights group that typically doesn’t weigh in on specific races.

In August, Common Cause Minnesota issued a statement rebuking Crockett for comments she made during a radio interview railing against proposed election law changes and telling listeners, “This is our 09/11.” Crockett told the Star Tribune that she meant the proposed changes should be a “wake-up call” for Republicans and then claimed to be victim of a “hit piece.”