Mark Ritchie our secretary of state, chief elections official is to conduct elections in a fair and neutral manner and not let personal politics influence his office. He has failed miserably.

In a written letter to Chief Minnesota Supreme Court Judge Lorie Gildea, Ritchie wrote: “As the state’s chief election official, I have the ministerial duty to ensure that the ballots are properly printed, not to take a side as to whether a ballot question proposed by the Legislature accurately or completely represents a Constitutional amendment under consideration.”

Those are his own words and they sound good, but his actions speak otherwise and reveal his true intentions. He is not executing his duties in a fair and impartial manner but in a partisan manner that is prohibited.

Mark Ritchie, the secretary of state, has taken it upon himself in an unprecedented and extraordinary action in renaming “Recognition of marriage solely between one man and one woman” to “Limiting the status of marriage to opposite sex couples.” and changing the title of “Photo identification required for voting” to “Changes to in-person and absentee voting and voter registration; provisional ballots.”

Why would you rename two constitutional amendments with confusing names other than to influence the outcome? I believe his intent is to circumvent the will of the legislature and to purposely mislead and confuse on Election Day. Mark Ritchie was elected with the help of the secretary of state project, a progressive 527 group. I guess their investment is paying off; even Stalin knew the importance of putting the right people in the right places.

“It is enough that the people know there was an election. The people who cast the votes decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.” — Joseph Stalin

 

Randy Kruckeberg

Mankato