Madam Secretary bails on Pride
In the build up to last year's elections, Minnesota Secretary of State Mary
Kiffmeyer was on the receiving end of a lot of blistering criticisms.
<http://www.independent-media.tv/item.cfm?fmedia_id=8678&fcategory_desc=E-Voting%20Machines%20/%20Vote%20Integrity>Detractors
accused the state's
<http://citypages.com/databank/25/1244/article12517.asp>controversial chief
election officer of doing
<http://citypages.com/databank/25/1240/article12443.asp>all she could to
supress turnout among likely Democratic voters. Kiffmeyer rebutted such
charges by pointing to her voter outreach efforts at events such as the
Twin Cities Gay Pride Festival. "Where's the Star Tribune when I'm working
Gay Pride and my staff has to take flak for being there?" she asked
pointedly in October.
At the time, some Pride attendees responded with
<http://www.eleventh-avenue-south.com/archives/000366.html>complaints that
they never saw Kiffmeyer or her representatives at the '04 festival. In
fact, says Pride spokesman Bill Nienaber, the SOS's office did pay for and
operate a booth last year. (He could not say, however, whether Kiffmeyer
herself appeared at the festival).
Different story this year. According to Nienaber, Kiffmeyer's office
plunked down a $125 deposit for a booth at Pride '05 only to call a week
before the festival to cancel.
Kent Kaiser, Kiffmeyer's spokesman, says the cancellation was the result of
a "resource" shortage. Last year, he explains, the SOS hired student
workers to man the booth using money from the Help America Vote Act. Those
HAVA funds were not available this year, Kaiser adds, so Kiffmeyer is
restricting voter registration efforts to mega-events such as the State
Fair and Taste of Minnesota.
<http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/blotter/2005/07/01#a477># -- Posted by
Mike Mosedale: 7/1/05; 10:33:14 AM
There was a fair amount of discussion here on this before. Kaiser
contacted me around noon on 7/1 - shortly after this item on the blotter
was posted.
It's good that CP contacted both the SOS office and the Pride committee to
follow up on this one.
http://babelogue.citypages.com:8080/blotter/2005/07/01#a477
Andy from Eleventh Avenue South also comments on this one:
http://www.eleventh-avenue-south.com/archives/000533.html
The email from Kent Kaiser explaining Kiffmeyer's Office reasons for
pulling out of Pride is available on Lloydletta's Nooz here:
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com/2005/07/kiffmeyers-office-responds-i-posted-on.html
Eva Young
Near North
Minneapolis
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://lloydletta.blogspot.com
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freedom, and that means freedom for everyone - not just you! You may leave
the room, turn the channel, express a different opinion, etc., but the
world is full of idiots, and probably always will be." --Article II of the
Bill of Non-Rights.
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