Subject: Stop the Next Ken Blackwell

From: Tom Vilsack <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 14 Sep 2006 16:37:32 -0400

Dear David,

Over the past few months I have worked with this community
and thousands of others across the country to bring
attention and resources to secretary of state races. And we
are making an impact. USA Today covered our work on the
front page of the paper, and our candidates are using the
resources we've all provided to wage vigorous campaigns.

But we aren't done.

One of the most vital races for secretary of state is in
Minnesota. The current secretary of state, Mary Kiffmeyer,
is a Ken Blackwell and Katherine Harris in the making. She
has shown time and time again her complete disinterest in
making it easier to vote, and her partisan streak has
spawned episodes ranging from a manufactured scare about
terrorists at polling places to a push for a stringent new
voter ID law.

But we have a great candidate to block Kiffmeyer from
joining the ranks of Blackwell and Harris: Mark Ritchie.

Heartland PAC is endorsing his campaign as he runs for
secretary of state -- and to win this campaign, he needs this
community's full support. Contribute to Mark Ritchie today:

http://www.heartlandpac.org/ritchie

In Kiffmeyer, Ritchie has an entrenched Republican opponent.
But we back him because we trust him to protect our right to
vote. He knows first hand what can happen when a secretary
of state fails to protect this fundamental right -- and even
actively undermines it.

Ritchie ran one of the largest voter drives of 2004:
November 2, a nonpartisan group that registered some 5
million people across the country. He hit roadblocks in the
places you might expect -- Florida and Ohio -- but also back
home in Minnesota. Kiffmeyer consistently tried to hamper
Ritchie's efforts to register more Minnesotans to vote, and
that convinced Ritchie she stood in the way of Minnesotans'
right to fully free and fair elections.

Ritchie says that Kiffmeyer made it difficult for groups
like his to get voter registration cards, and tried to block
the state's Native American population from voting by
refusing to accept federally issued identification cards as
valid proof of residence. The situation concerned him so
much that after the election, he began thinking about how to
fight back against her partisan attack on voters' rights --
and in the end, left his job to launch a campaign to unseat
Kiffmeyer.

I know this community stands by him in his commitment to
protect all voters' rights. Show that support with a
contribution today:

http://www.heartlandpac.org/ritchie

Kiffmeyer galled Ritchie with her underhanded tactics:
giving out bad information about when and how to register to
vote, and undercutting and speaking against same-day voter
registration, a proud Minnesota tradition. In 2004, she even
sent precinct officials a terror alert to post in polling
places, warning that "cars riding low on springs" and people
wearing "herbal/flower water or perfume" could be terrorists
attempting to disrupt Minnesota elections.

She backs voter-ID rules to make it tough for students, the
elderly and the poor to vote. She advocates a law to force
voters to carry a driver's license in order to cast a
ballot. In 2002, she even tried to gum up efforts to send
new absentee ballots to voters who mailed their choices
before the tragic plane crash that caused the death of Paul
Wellstone.

Elect Mark Ritchie, and Kiffmeyer won't become a household
name in 2008. Instead, Mark Ritchie will work to make sure
all Minnesotans have their right to vote protected. Mark
Ritchie pledges to work for initiatives we care about:
restoring people's trust in voting machines by giving people
a paper trail, protecting same-day registration, and helping
more youth get involved in the electoral process.

Ritchie wants to run a nonpartisan office -- and to stop the
slanted conduct that undermines the confidence Americans
should have in the voting process. Help Minnesotans elect a
chief elections officer they can trust with your
contribution:

http://www.heartlandpac.org/ritchie

Please join me in helping Mark Ritchie. He has the talent to
make people believe in fair elections again -- and that's
exactly what this community is fighting for.

Sincerely,

Tom Vilsack

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