Minnesota ACLU places $1,000 bounty on voter-impersonatin' "rascals"

ACLU of Minnesota

The ACLU has offered a $1,000 bounty

​The ACLU of Minnesota has stepped into the voter-ID controversy by offering a bounty: $1,000 for any "no good lyin' cheatin' vote stealin' rascal who would have been caught if the currently proposed Voter ID Amendment had already been enacted."

ACLU Executive Director Chuck Samuelson is confident his organization won't have to pay up. Samuelson believes no such "rascal" exists.

"Since 1858, there hasn't been one conviction for voter impersonation," Samuelson said. "So why do we need a bill that stops voter impersonation?"

Republican lawmakers are currently pushing legislation that would require voters to present photo identification at the polls come election time.

"It's an unneeded amendment," Samuelson said.

Mary Kiffmeyer is pushing against a fake problem, says the ACLU

​As proof, Samuelson points to the 2008 election, when 2.9 million voters cast their ballots in Minnesota. There were 160 convictions for voter fraud, Samuelson says, but none of them had anything to do with voter impersonation. That makes for a "99%" accuracy rate in voting, he said.

"Honest to Pete, you find me a factory that works that close to perfect and I'd be shocked," Samuelson said. "They don't exist."

Republican legislator Mary Kiffmeyer told the Pioneer Press that voter impersonation does occur, even in Minnesota, but offered no evidence.

Anyone looking to collect the bounty can submit their evidence to the ACLU, which will only accept it by mail. Their office is at 2300 Myrtle Avenue, Suite 180, St. Paul, MN 55114.

According to the organization's legal disclaimer, entrants "must have proof of legal charge, indictment or conviction for voter impersonation in the State of Minnesota issued not before January 1, 2002."