Republican secretary of state candidate Dan Severson, a legislator making his first statewide bid, says that the concept of church and state separation "does not exist in America...because we are a Christian nation."
A state representative from Sauk Rapids, Severson made his remarks recently on a Christian radio talk show and elaborated on them later in an interview. His comments come as he nears an election showdown Nov. 2 with DFL incumbent Mark Ritchie, for an office that oversees elections.
On Wednesday, Severson also accused Ritchie of not being aggressive enough in responding to allegations of voter fraud, and he wants to require people to show photo identification at polls to demonstrate they're eligible to vote.
He contends that in the controversial 2008 U.S. Senate recount, Ritchie did not do enough to make sure felons did not vote, that the election was plagued by fraud and that Minnesota Supreme Court erred in helping establish a recount procedure. "There never was a full recount that was established," Severson said in an interview.
Ritchie did not respond to questions about Severson's comments.
But DFL spokesperson Kristin Sosanie said Severson's claims of voter fraud are "just wild accusations" unsupported by reviews of the recount. "It was nationally recognized as an example of how things should work," she said.
Although Republicans have questioned whether vote fraud occurred in the 2008 Senate election, former U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman, who lost a recount, did not raise fraud as an issue during a trial over the election result.
Sosanie called Severson's comments on separation of church and state "baffling."
