Not With a Bang, but a Whimper

Back in March, a brand-new group called "Citizens for a Better Minneapolis" and the Minnesota Voters Alliance launched a petition drive to put a very bad idea on the ballot in Minneapolis: to force every voter in a municipal election to provide a photo ID in order to vote. I criticized this wrongheaded scheme here on SecondWard, and pointed out that "Citizens for a Better Minneapolis" had existed for about a week before launching the campaign, leaving the distinct impression that the actual driver of the campaign was MVA, a group of conservative suburbanites with a record of suing Minneapolis and losing. I expressed confidence that Minneapolis voters would see through these groups' rhetoric and vote this terrible idea down.


It seems that I was right to believe in my fellow Minneapolitans. The deadline to turn in signatures to get a question on this fall's ballot has come and gone, with nary a word from "Citizens" or MVA. In fact, the most recent activity on their website as of today is the press release from March 23rd informing the public of the campaign's launch. It seems that the voters of Minneapolis were even wiser than I had hoped - rather than voting this awful idea down in November, they declined to support putting it on the ballot in the first place.


I'd welcome "Citizens" or MVA to share the reasons they believe their petition drive failed, though I expect to continue to hear crickets.