Mary Kiffmeyer

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

20^th Minnesota Secretary of State
Mary Kiffmeyer

In office January 4, 1999 – January 2, 2007
Preceded by	Joan Growe
Succeeded by	Mark Ritchie

Born	December 29, 1946 Pierz, Minnesota
Political party	Republican Party
Spouse	Ralph Kiffmeyer

Mary Kiffmeyer (born December 29, 1946) is an American politician active in the Republican Party of Minnesota. She served as the 20th Minnesota Secretary of State. First elected in November 1998, she was sworn into office on January 4, 1999, and re-elected in November 2002. She was defeated for re-election in November of 2006.

The oldest of 14 children, Kiffmeyer was raised in Pierz, Minnesota. She lives near Big Lake, Minnesota with her husband, Ralph Kiffmeyer, a nurse anesthetist who served one term in the Minnesota House. They have four children and 14 grandchildren.

Kiffmeyer told the attendees of a 2004 National Day of Prayer event in Minnesota that the "five words" that are "probably most destructive" in America today are "separation of church and state." Kiffmeyer later said, "It's not the words that are destructive, it's the way they are interpreted. There are a lot of good church people who don't think they can be involved in government."

Beginning in 2003, Minnesota law allowed Native American tribal ID cards to be used by members of tribes living on reservations for election day registration, but not members living off reservations. The American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint, ACLU v. Kiffmeyer, on behalf of urban members of Native American bands and the National Congress of American Indians. Judge James Rosenbaum issued a temporary restraining order in October 2004 which sided with the plaintiffs. The case was settled in favor of the plaintiffs in September 2005. The Minnesota Legislature subsequently amended election law to recognize this ruling.

While Kiffmeyer was in office, Minnesotans led the nation in voter turnout, in 2000, 2002, 2004, and 2006. In 2004, Minnesota had 77.7% voter turnout, the highest in the state since 1960. Kiffmeyer transformed a state website allowing users to register to vote, find and get directions to their local precincts, and see who their local candidates are in the upcoming election.

On election day 2006, Kiffmeyer supported a decision by local election judges to not allow some University of Minnesota students that lived near the campus to register to vote because they had inadequate proof of residence. A Hennepin County judge overuled this decision the same day, but it was unclear how many of the students returned to the polls.^[1]

Kiffmeyer testified in front of a congressional committee the importance of paper ballots in upcoming elections and stressed the importance of a "paper trail" while voting technology is moving ahead.

After Kiffmeyer left office, a routine Legislative Audit was conducted on the Secretary of State office for 2005 and 2006.^[2] This audit concluded that the office hired 16 employees at a pay rate that exceeded their collective bargaining agreement without obtaining approval from the Department of Employee Relations resulting in total overpayment to employees of over $190,000. The explanation given in the audit was because the office mistakenly believed it retained this delegated authority. There were also instances of Kiffmeyer's mileage reimbursement starting from her home near Big Lake, Minnesota instead of from her office, and lack of a clear "public purpose" explanation for some of Kiffmeyer's travel.^[3].

In March 2008, Kiffmeyer announced she will run for a seat in the Minnesota House against fellow Republican Mark Douglas Olson.

Kiffmeyer is a director of Riverview Community Bank,^[4] a "Christ-centered" savings and loan.^[5]

[edit] Electoral history

2006 Race for state Secretary of State
- Mark Ritchie (Democrat), 49.09%
- Mary Kiffmeyer (Republican), 44.16%
- Bruce Kennedy (Independent), 3.67%
- Joel Spoonheim (Independent), 3.02%
2002 Race for state Secretary of State
- Mary Kiffmeyer (Republican) (incumbent), 48%
- Buck Humphrey (DFL), 45%
1998 Race for state Secretary of State
- Mary Kiffmeyer (Republican), 47%
- Edwina Garcia (DFL), 41%
- Alan Shilepsky (Reform), 10%

[edit] References

^ Melrose residents unable to vote Tuesday. Minnesota Daily (2006-11-09).
^ Minnesota Secretary of State Legislative Auditor Report for 2005 and 2006. Office of the Legislative Auditor (2007-07-13).
^ Von Sternberg, Bob "Kiffmeyer overpaid herself and her staff, audit finds" Star Tribune, July 13, 2007 [1] [2]
^ Beal, Dave "Riverview Community Bank near Elk River, Minn., has faith in business" Pioneer Press November 11, 2004 [3]
^ Shorto, Russell "With God at Our Desks" New York Times Magazine October 31, 2004