Oddly, Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie's Orwellian change of the title for the photo ID amendment, from "Photo Identification Required For Voting" to "Changes To In-Person & Absentee Voting & Voter Registration; Provisional Ballots," seems to have eluded editorial comment.
I imagine the secretary is playing the long game, hoping voters are confused and don't vote, which acts as a "no." Or maybe he wants to ensure that any unfavorable result is subject to legal challenge. But it does make you wonder how some of our nation's rallying cries and foundational documents might have been titled if Ritchie's hand had been applied.
Suppose Patrick Henry's "Give me liberty or give me death!" had been announced as "Existential alternatives debated!" That would really make you grab the muskets.
Or what if the Declaration of Independence had been titled "Changes to the Relationship with the Mother Country"? Change is a pretty easy sell, but inquiring minds might want some details before they pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.
Or what if Lincoln had announced his Emancipation Proclamation as "Shifts in Status of Some People." The Great Emancipator might instead be remembered as the Great Obfuscator.
I'd be tempted to title the whole episode as "Secretary of State Injecting Partisanship Into Election Process." But in the spirit of Mr. Ritchie, I'll have to settle for "Stuff Happening to Stuff."
CHIP ALLEN, WOODBURY
