Minnesota Majority held a press conference on Thursday to discuss their lawsuit against Hennepin and Ramsey counties (Minneapolis and St.Paul) over a new policy implemented this year that bars Tea Party themed clothing and MM’s Election Integrity buttons from being worn at polling places. The presser got taken over by an uninvited Rep. Keith Ellison, the DFL incumbent in MN-05, who proceeded to accuse the organization of voter intimidation in its efforts to prevent fraud. When it comes to answering questions about his own misrepresentations — and a pointed one about who benefits from not requiring photo ID at the polling place — Ellison suddenly became a lot less interested in hijacking the podium. Most of the fun comes in the final minute or so:
Well, voter fraud is a felony, and those who get arrested for it may well find themselves in handcuffs. Retail stores have used posters like that for years to warn people against shoplifting, which is only a misdemeanor in most cases. Are those cases of shopper intimidation? Furthermore, the big eye on the button is taken, as voices in the video point out, from the Neighborhood Watch program, which has been used for years. (It’s also on the back of the $1 bill.)
And to that point, government should be watching the voting process to ensure fraud doesn’t occur. How exactly does Ellison propose to enforce laws against voter fraud? Osmosis? Tarot cards? Arresting people wearing Tea Party t-shirts? Oh, wait, he apparently does support that.
This is as good a time as any to remind people that Joel Demos is running against Ellison in MN-05 this year.
Update: Minnesota Majority had to take down the original video after a complaint from The Uptake, so they found even better footage and uploaded a new version.
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