Although there are no state-wide elections scheduled this year, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is backing some election law changes at the state Capitol.
Speaking to teachers in Brainerd this week, Ritchie said he supports these adjustments, reports the Brainerd Dispatch:
- Increasing the ability of townships to use all-mail balloting.
- Changing the threshold of vote margins for publicly funded recounts from 1/2 of 1 percent to 1/4 of 1 percent of total votes counted.
- Increased use of early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.
- Allowing the secretary of state more access to Minnesota court system and Department of Corrections data on felons that can be shared with election judges.
The changes are intended to keep costs down, while improving efficiency and turnout, Ritchie said.
"Everybody wants to save money," he said. "Everybody wants to preserve the integrity of the process."