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David Finn was confused when he received his voter ID card in the mail earlier this month which indicated that he had been placed in a different district for the upcoming primary election on August 14. For years he had to go just a few blocks away to vote but now he was instructed to travel up the hill to the Shepherd of Hills Lutheran Church located at 802 Maple Grove Road in Duluth which is just over 5 miles away from his home which is located at Mesaba Place. “Why would people from downtown (Duluth) go all the way out to Hermantown?” said Finn. “It’s too far, public transportation isn’t there and some of the people in this area are poor and won’t be able to afford a taxi out there.”
What is unusual about the voter ID cards that were sent out to certain residents of Duluth is that the Minnesota Voter Identification Amendment will be voted on in this coming election in November 2012. The cards issue a “Voter I.D.” number, have a barcode and indicate the Precinct of the voter and where one should vote. What’s further unsettling about the cards, is that there are discrepancies on the information that they have on them.
The bill that will be voted on in November will require all who vote in Minnesota to have a valid government issued ID. The only place to obtain such an ID will be from the Department of Vehicle Services. A birth certificate will be needed to obtain the ID and there may also be fees for the ID itself. Some have claimed that this will discourage the poor, elderly and those without transportation from voting. The issue has sparked debate about voters rights and voter suppression. The Republican party has exclusively pushed for the bill to go through.
Finn first called the phone number on the voting card to verify what was going on with the district change, the number reached the St. Louis County Court House. He claimed that he was redirected to the Duluth City Clerk’s Office and then they referred him back to the County. Even more confused, Finn went down to the Duluth DFL office located at 134 W. 1st. Street in Duluth. When they checked which place he should go to vote on the St. Louis County website (www.stlouiscountymn.gov), they discovered that the polling place listed was at Duluth Heights Community Club located at 33 W. Mulberry Street which is roughly in the same location as Shepherd of Hills Lutheran Church. The same website link can be found by visiting www.sos.state.mn.us.
The Reader called the St. Louis County Court House and were transferred to a woman who declined to give her name but mentioned that she was a supervisor for St. Louis County. She stated that the City of Duluth made a mistake on the specific location of Mesaba Place and that those residents had been placed in Precinct 22 when they were supposed to be placed in Precinct 20.  The supervisor said that the location for voting for Precinct 20 is at Duluth Gospel Tabernacle located at 1515 W. Superior Street which is just a mile away. We called the Duluth Gospel Tabernacle and the receptionist confirmed that there would be voting at that location on August 14 and that the church was indeed in Precinct 20. The St. Louis County supervisor mentioned that the correction would be made on the St. Louis County website (www.stlouiscountymn.gov/www.sos.state.mn.us) within a few days.
The supervisor said that anyone who is elderly or will have trouble making it to their polling location should apply for an absentee ballot which can be found at www.sos.state.mn.us.
When looking at the precinct maps of Duluth, Precinct 20 does in fact border Precinct 22, but Mesaba Place lies approximately six blocks away from Precinct 22 and lies right on the edge of Precinct 19, Mesaba Avenue being the cut off point. Although Mesaba Place is a short dead end street, questions arise if this is the only mistake when considering Duluth’s layout. The issue of why there are two different polling locations for Precinct 22 is also up in the air.
Finn was concerned about the cards that were issued to him and his neighbors, “voting isn’t fair anymore and there’s so many ways you can sway a vote with misinformation. If the DFL has a problem figuring out where you can vote, how is the normal person supposed to know?” said Finn.
Those who received a voter ID card who have had their polling place changed and feel that location seems unreasonably far away should contact the St. Louis County Court House at 218-726-1293 to determine which precinct they are in and where to vote. Precinct maps can be found on www.duluthmn.gov. Those in Precinct 22 may want to double check where to vote as well.