Florida du Nord:
Minnesota's version of Kathleen Harris strikes again (and again): A Minnesota Democrat has called Minnesota's secretary of state "the least competent person" to ever hold the position. And indeed, as we head to another election day, Republican Mary Kiffmeyer seems to be earning such low praise. First she ran out of registration forms (some progressive groups think she shorted them for political reasons). Then, she made national and local headlines for creating alarming polling-place posters (warning election workers to keep an eye out for bald men and people smelling of flower water), for telling Native Americans they can't use tribal I.D. cards to register to vote (despite tribal sovereignty), and for unilaterally rewriting rules to make it more difficult to register to vote in a state that historically tips Democratic. In These Times included her in an August rundown of GOP election engineers using their power to benefit the party:

Kiffmeyer recently decided that in order to vote in November every would-be voter in the state must show an ID reflecting an "exact match" to the file of names, driver's license numbers and dates of birth circulated by her office. Such rules would have the effect of robbing the vote from thousands of state residents, including those who encounter errors in the information about them on Kiffmeyer's official list.

And a City Pages report relayed this story from a hearing about voter difficulties in Minnesota:

At the hearing, Sen. John Hottinger (DFL-St. Peter) produced a transcript of an Air America radio show, in which the host, Wendy Wilde, had called Kiffmeyer's office with a hypothetical Election Day scenario. What would happen, she asked, if a person voted by absentee ballot, and then changed her mind and wanted to pull the lever for a different candidate on Election Day? According to the transcript, three different employees from Kiffmeyer's office provided three different responses to the question; one said the Election Day vote would be a felony. None of the responses were legally accurate.

Given the widespread weirdness and increased scrutiny over Kiffmeyer's mishandling of state voting procedures, you'd think she's straighten things out. Not so. Yesterday's whoopsie, from the Star Tribune:

State officials moved Friday to replace notices at more than 200 driver's license examining stations and vehicle tab agencies throughout Minnesota that they said could discourage people from voting.

"It is too late to register for the November 2, 2004, General Election," the notices say under the headline "Important Voter Registration Information."

The notices apparently have been posted since an Oct. 12 deadline for "motor voter" registration -- automatically signing up to vote along with an application for a driver's license or state identification card. But prospective voters still can register at the offices of county auditors or the secretary of state or at the polls on Nov. 2.

"We're getting it changed," state Division of Driver and Vehicle Services spokeswoman Susan Lasley said. "It kind of implies the wrong thing." She said she did not know how the mistake was made or by whom.

A new version of the notice specifies that "It is too late to register to vote on your DL or ID card application."

Both notices add: "If you apply for your DL or ID card today, your name will not appear on this year's voter roster," although that does not preclude registering by other means.

The notices also refer prospective voters to the secretary of state's office. Kent Kaiser, spokesman for Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, said she did not issue either of the notices. But Pat McCormack, director of driver and vehicle services, said the information came from Kiffmeyer's office.

"Some people were misreading it," McCormack said. "If they ask us about it, we tell them to check with their county auditor or the secretary of state."

All this is just a long way of saying: please oh please sign up to be an Election Protection Volunteer in Minnesota or your state.