Common Cause of Minnesota filed a complaint with the state's campaign finance board Tuesday, accusing the pro-voter ID group Minnesota Majority of failing to register its lobbying activities.
"Minnesota Majority has been caught red handed in an effort to circumvent Minnesota lobbyist laws," Mike Dean, executive director of Common Cause Minnesota said in a statement. "It is time for the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board to more effectively enforce Minnesota's rules for lobbyists."
The complaint states that Dan McGrath, executive director of the Minnesota Majority, should have registered himself as a lobbyist with the state,, since he spent the past few legislative session advocating for voter ID. The Legislature passed the bill last session and the November ballot will include a proposed constitutional amendment that would require Minnesotans to show their photo identification before they vote.
McGrath scoffed at the complaint.
"They're making a lot of incorrect assumptions," said McGrath, who describes the time he spent at the Capitol as simply offering expert advice to lawmakers on the topic of voter identification. "I'm not a lobbyist…A lobbyist would be somebody paid by a corporation to twist arms at the Legislature."
Common Cause accuses the Minnesota Majority of spending "significant time and money lobbying in support of the Voter ID amendment" over the past four years.
You can read the full complaint here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/98990017/Common-Cause-Complaint-Against-Minnesota-Majority
