Ritchie also changes ballot title of photo ID amendment

Just hours after Republicans lined up behind a lawsuit against Secretary of State Mark Ritchie for changing the title of a proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment, the two-term DFL elections chief announced he has also changed the title of Republicans’ proposed photo I.D. amendment.

Ritchie on Monday announced that he changed the title of the amendment, which would require photo identification to vote, to appear on the ballot as, “Changes to In-Person and Absentee Voting and Voter Registration; Provisional Ballots.” Republicans had previously titled the amendment, “Photo Identification Required for Voting.”

Earlier on Monday, Minnesota for Marriage, the chief group supporting a proposed anti-gay marriage constitutional amendment, joined several GOP lawmakers to announce they had filed a petition in the Minnesota Supreme Court to sue Ritchie and Attorney General Lori Swanson for changing the title of the marriage amendment on the ballot. Swanson approved both changes.

Ritchie argues that Gov. Mark Dayton’s symbolic veto of the bills gives him the authority to reword the title of both amendments.

Backers of the photo I.D. amendment have also threatened to sue Ritchie for changing the title.