Minnesota Senator Campaigns For An Anti-Campaign Law Change

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — If a Minnesota state senator gets his wish, a faceless and nameless force would give political candidates extra reason to sweat at election time. They'd have to compete against "None of the Above," with the threat of a new election featuring all-new candidates if that option prevails.

GOP Sen. Branden Petersen's proposal is certainly a longshot, even by his own admission. But he's hoping the bill he introduced last week at least stirs some serious talk and gives frustrated voters an idea to rally around.

"This would give people an opportunity to really make a strong statement in rebuke of the present dynamic. It would be an honest check on the two-party system," said the first-term senator from Andover who at times has clashed openly with his own party. "This gives people a chance to legitimately voice their opinion."

The proposal so far has been met with eye rolls and good-natured pokes. Fellow Republican Tim Sanders, the House Government Operations and Election Policy chairman, shrugged it off as the "Brewster's Millions" bill — a reference to the 1980s Richard Pryor comedy where the main character drops millions on a successful "None of the Above" protest campaign in the New York City mayor's race.

"That's not something that grabs my interest. I'm certainly willing to hear him out," Sanders said. But Sanders is worried it would be too complex and feed an unachievable hunger for the perfect candidate. "This is a representative form of government and I don't think you're ever going to find you're 100 percent represented unless your own name is on the ballot."

Senate Elections Subcommittee Chairwoman Katie Sieben, DFL-Newport, said she's inclined to give the bill a hearing but considers it an "excessive and expensive" answer to concerns of voter discontent. "I'm not convinced," she said.

It holds the potential for new elections if the "None of the Above" line garners the most votes. That outcome — binding in all but presidential contests — would trigger special elections the following February. The listed candidates from the prior race would be excluded, although write-in candidates would remain eligible. If the deadlock hit a governor's election, the state Supreme Court would be enlisted to select a temporary fill-in governor.

Only Nevada now has a "None of the Above" law. But if that line secures the most votes in that state, the top vote-getting named candidate prevails, a scenario that has occurred as recently as last year's Democratic primary for governor.

Similar legislation and ballot initiatives have been introduced in the past decade in more than a dozen states, but none have prevailed.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon, a Democrat in his first year, said he's willing to take a look.

"We do have write-ins in Minnesota for a reason," Simon said. "If people don't like their choices they can make a choice they do like. It can be anyone. It can be a non-politician, it can be a celebrity, their friend, their neighbor, their spouse, their sibling. That seems to be in Minnesota and in other places the traditional outlet for disappointment and frustration."

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