MN Sec. of State errs on state, campaign sites

It seems the charge leveled by the Minnesota Democratic Party against Mary Kiffmeyer yesterday--that she failed to maintain accurate and updated information on the frequently-asked-questions page on the Secretary of State's website, including adding language approved in May 2005 that addresses voting elegibility for ex-felons--might also apply to the incumbent's campaign site as well.

After several weeks without any noticeable changes, Kiffmeyer.org--a site adminstered by her son, James Kiffmeyer--now shows new content on the endorsements page, altered on Saturday. However, since at least mid-September, the function that allows visitors to sign up for Kiffmeyer's e-mail newsletters hasn't worked. It only yields the message, "Error: Bad/No Recipient."


While her challenger, Democrat Mark Ritchie, wouldn't comment on Kiffmeyer's campaign website, he says that her management of the Secretary of State's site transcends mere carelessness.

"I've held several press conferences pointing out inaccurate information, incorrect information, failure to implement laws and failure to implement court orders," he says. "There's a pattern there that I think is inexcusable. It appears to be partisan, and it's unacceptable this close in to an election. I feel like the inaccuracies have been pointed out long enough that their continued presence on the website is intentional and therefore is a deceptive practice. It'll be up to the courts to decide if it meets the test of deceptive practices spelled out in Minnesota law."

James Kiffmeyer has not yet responded to an email asking for comment.