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“NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE HAS PARTISAN SWEARING-IN EVENT
By Michael B. Brodkorb | January 2, 2007
According to numerous sources, Secretary of State Mark Ritchie swearing-in event in the Capitol rotunda was filled with DFLers and "rabidly partisan" activists.
But Ritchie promised to be a "nonpartisan" Secretary of State:
- "… the office of Secretary of State must operate in a non-partisan manner." Source: Mark Ritchie press release, June 7, 2005
- "I will protect your vote by restoring trust and nonpartisanship to the secretary of state's office…" Source: Pioneer Press, November 1, 2006
Should a "nonpartisan" Secretary of State invite so many DFLers to his swearing-in event?
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6 Responses to ““NONPARTISAN” SECRETARY OF STATE RITCHIE HAS PARTISAN SWEARING-IN EVENT”
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January 2nd, 2007 at 9:04 PM
If talking about providing an annual update on “the State of the Democracy” and about making the democratic process more inclusive is partisan, then I guess Secretary of State Mark Ritchie is a rabid partisan.
Also, this was a reception for the public. Secretary of State Ritchie’s offical swearing in took place at the Fitzgerald Theater earlier today along with State Auditor Rebecca Otto and Governor Tim Pawlenty.
January 2nd, 2007 at 11:47 PM
this is just a dumb post.
January 3rd, 2007 at 12:51 AM
If those DFLers helped to elect him, why not?
January 3rd, 2007 at 2:45 AM
You are really blowing this whole non-partisan issue WAY out of proportion. His actions now are going to be aimed at the DFL because guess what, HE IS A DFL’ER! And who elected him on Nov 7th, DFL’ERS! Why would a bunch of GOP people go celebrate with him when they didnt vote for him and why should he target them to come celebrate with him when again, they didnt vote for him or want him to win. Mark Ritches is part of the DFL party and he is going to celebrate with the party that helped him get elected, not the people who worked hard to make him lose.
When it comes to his whole non-partisan problems with Kiffmeyer, it wasnt how she celebrated her wins or who she surrounded herself with, it was when she used her name as Secretary of State to support Republican positions. Why should Kiffmeyer have any business discussing gay marriage? Her job was elections, not gay marriage and legislationg on social issues.
Honestly, you MUST be running out of material to expose the DFL about because wow, you are really reaching here.
January 3rd, 2007 at 8:09 AM
HA! Who do you think was at Mary Kiffmeyer’s swearing in? The guy can invite whoever the hell he wants. Questions of partisanship have to do with how he serves. The verdict’s still out for that.
January 3rd, 2007 at 7:31 PM
Funny, I don’t think limiting the information voters recieve about who their election judges comports with making the democratic process more open. Under Kiffmeyer, voters were able to identify the election judges in their precincts as Democrats and Republicans. Ritchie wants to take that valuable piece of information away from voters.
Also, our system should only be as inclusive as the laws allow it to be. I heard complaints about Kiffmeyer removing Independent candidates from the ballot. If a candidate cannot reach the legal threshold because their party didn’t field candidates receiving the requisite amount of votes in the last election – or- if a candidate cannot get the appropriate number of legal signatures, then (gasp) maybe they *should* be excluded from the ballot.