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PRESS RELEASE: “BROD AND EMMER RENEW CALL FOR LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION OF SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE”
By Michael Brodkorb | November 21, 2007
SAINT PAUL – (November 21, 2007) – In response to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie admitting he took data from his elective office and provided it to his campaign, State Representatives Laura Brod and Tom Emmer renewed their call for a legislative investigation.
"Our concerns with the actions of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie have been elevated," said Representative Tom Emmer. "Illegal use of public data is a violation of the state's data privacy act. The improper use of this data by a state constitutional officer casts a shadow of doubt on not only Mark Ritchie but the entire Minnesota Secretary of State Office. A thorough investigation will shed light on the activities taking place and ensure the office is operated in a nonpartisan, transparent manner that complies with state law."
Brod and Emmer made their first investigation request after allegations that Secretary of State Mark Ritchie or someone in his office used data from a nonpartisan public meeting for political fundraising. In response to a data information request submitted by Brod and Emmer, the Minnesota Secretary of State Office confirmed that no data information request was made. The Office also denied having any knowledge of how that information was entered into the Mark Ritchie campaign database.
"Public trust in safety and security of information related to oursystem of elections is crucial. Any breach or perceived breach of that trust is serious and warrants immediate response," said Representative Laura Brod. "Now that the original allegations related to the transferof public data to the Secretary's campaign have been confirmed by Secretary of State Mark Ritchie himself, the integrity of the Minnesota Secretary of State Office is no longer in question but at risk."
Brod and Emmer said they will submit a second data information request to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie today and will renew their request for a legislative hearing with the House Government Operations Committee.
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2 Responses to “PRESS RELEASE: “BROD AND EMMER RENEW CALL FOR LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION OF SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE””
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November 21st, 2007 at 6:43 PM
Wow I actually saw this on the six oclock news tonight!
November 22nd, 2007 at 8:34 PM
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptPRESS RELEASE: “BROD AND EMMER RENEW CALL FOR LEGISLATIVE INVESTIGATION OF SECRETARY OF STATE MARK RITCHIE†November 21, 2007 4:16 pm SAINT PAUL – (November 21, 2007) – In response to Secretary of State Mark Ritchie admitting he took data from his elective office and provided it to his campaign, State Representatives Laura Brod and Tom Emmer renewed their call for a legislative investigation. “Our concerns with the actions of Secretary of State Mark Ritchie have been elevated,” said Repres [...]