Minnesotans Are Better Served When We Work Together

By Mark Ritchie
Published in Minnesota Counties, February 2008

This year, Minnesota celebrates its Sesquicentennial. With 150 years of progress and challenges, we have the opportunity to reflect on who we are, where we have been, our accomplishments and our future.

Recently, I had the honor to give a sermon at my church regarding Minnesota and its sesquicentennial. While preparing my remarks, I learned all over again why Minnesota is such a special place and why we have an obligation to preserve our past, plan responsibly for the future, and encourage broad civic participation that nurtures our communities and connects our neighbors.

Minnesota has been blessed with remarkable stewards of its resources for more than a century. Generations past have sacrificed to a great extent to provide our communities with good schools, community centers, protected wilderness, nature preserves, and parks. Our forebears gave us roads that connected us to each other and connected our farm produce to markets. They built modern cities to build commerce, one of the largest fresh water port cities in the world to encourage trade, world-renowned hospitals and clinics to heal and care for our people, iron ore mines that provided the raw materials to build the great cities of the country, and a State Capitol Building to memorialize our commitment to future Minnesotans through good government.

Along with the physical resources that we have inherited, a strong tradition of community spirit and dedication to civic engagement has been handed down over the last 150 years. Minnesotans care about each other and express that concern through individual acts of kindness and collective efforts through our churches, community groups, and government. Minnesota has historically lead the nation in voter turnout, proving that we take our commitment to democracy very seriously.

In light of these commitments by past generations it serves us to carry forward these traditions and face the new challenges of our day. To honor the sacrifices of those that gave us so much, we must do more to build upon past successes and proud traditions.

This February, five of our six political parties held precinct caucuses as the starting point in Minnesota's grassroots political process. Caucuses are the beginning of the winding road that leads participants to party endorsements and eventually to the general election in November 2008. Typically, the Office of the Secretary of State has played a minor role in the caucuses because they were a function of the political parties. However, I wanted to do something to help more Minnesotans take ownership of their democracy. Over the last few months, the Office of the Secretary of State worked in close partnership with the Constitution, Green, Independence, Democratic, and Republican Parties to engage the public and urge their participation in the upcoming precinct caucuses. In addition to speaking to countless community groups about the caucuses-such as Rotaries, Student Groups, St. Croix Valley Riders Club, and the Independence Party State Convention-this office developed a first-in-the-nation non-partisan Precinct Caucus Finder (a free web-based service) to assist Minnesotans in locating the precinct caucus location for the party of their choice. I believe this new service encouraged and welcomed new people into the democratic process.

Minnesotans are better served when we work together. I know that the Office of the Secretary of State and county officials will work hard to make sure that every eligible Minnesotan that wants to vote can do so and with ease and confidence. This office has worked with the counties to develop a legislative agenda that will assist local election officials, and ultimately voters, throughout the election process. We are hopeful our election reform items will be passed so that these items are in place in time for the elections in November.

We must remember that while every indication is that the year 2008 may be the biggest political year in decades and that expected turnout will be record-breaking, new folks and young people still need to be welcomed into the process. We must all do everything we can to make sure voices from local communities can be heard loud and clear, all the way to St. Paul.