Hedger campaign little more than political, personal attacks

In case you missed it, I wanted to make sure you saw this letter to the editor that appeared in today's Fargo Forum about the race for Secretary of State.

Your opinion: Hedger campaign little more than political, personal attacks
By Rick Olson - 09/07/2006

Kristin Hedger, the Democratic-NPL-endorsed candidate for North Dakota Secretary of State, has been running a campaign that so far is way short on substance. In her campaign travels throughout the state, Hedger has basically been attacking Republican incumbent Secretary of State Al Jaeger personally, professionally and politically.

What Hedger hasn’t done (like so many Democrats before her and many will after her) is put anything of substance on the table. She has yet to convince the public that she would do a better job at running the secretary of state’s office. She offers no specific examples about how she would go about running the office if she were elected.

She’s put nothing on the table as far as ideas about how the office may be run more efficiently if she were in charge. All she’s doing is whining publicly about a subject of which she has little or no knowledge, other than the misinformation her handlers have undoubtedly been feeding her.
Her latest tirade concerns the requirement that North Dakota voters must produce a driver’s license at the polls when they vote in an election. That is only a half-truth. Further, Hedger has publicly stated that this rule is intended to disenfranchise voters who don’t have a driver’s license. Nothing is further from the truth.

North Dakota does allow for a voter who does not have identification to sign an affidavit under penalties of perjury to declare he or she is legally entitled to vote in a particular precinct.
In addition, North Dakota also allows for alternate means of identification, such as a state-issued non-driver identification card, an Indian Tribal identification card and others. All county auditors have a list of acceptable forms of identification.

The secretary of state’s main duty is the oversight of all matters pertaining to elections in North Dakota. Our state is unique in that it is the only state in the United States that does not have a formal system of voter registration in place and does not require its residents to register to vote. Yet, North Dakota has passed muster many times over with the federal government concerning the state’s election system.

All North Dakota requires is that a voter be at least 18 years of age, be a legal resident of the state and have lived in his or her voting precinct for no fewer than 30 days prior to an election.

The state does have a central list of all eligible voters in the state. So, if North Dakota gets a clean bill of health concerning its election system from the federal government, then what is Hedger’s beef?

She is also using the tired old line that she intends to make the office more “user friendly,” whatever that means. To most people, the secretary of state is strictly a behind-the-scenes official.

The office oversees all matters relative to the receiving and filing of state documents, such as all legislative documents to include all bills and resolutions that have been enacted by the Legislature and signed into law by the governor.

The secretary of state also has the duty of overseeing all statewide initiative, referendum and recall petition drives, as well as the certification of all such measures for the ballot. The office also handles such functions as the commissioning of notary publics in the state.

The secretary of state also serves as the state athletic commissioner and chairs the state boxing commission, which as the name suggests, regulates the sports of professional pugilism (boxing) and wrestling events in the state.

Jaeger gets my vote for re-election. Jaeger is running the secretary of state’s office in a most efficient and professional manner. In my opinion, there is no need for change. Hedger, a person who has absolutely no experience, is seeking to defeat Jaeger and in turn take control of this very important office.

Olson is from Fargo and describes himself as a casual political observer.