News Releases
Secretary Simon Statement on Presidential Executive Order on Elections
Minnesota Report
On Tuesday, our Secretary of State Steve Simon (DFL-MN) issued the following press release, which although short in length echoes our sentiments on the Election Executive Order proclaimed by Donald J Trump on Monday. In our opinion, Simon effectively notes, Trump has no standing at all in dictating policies or procedures regarding elections.
SAINT PAUL – On March 25, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order on elections.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon issued the following statement:
“The President’s recent executive order on elections, if allowed to take effect, would threaten the ability to vote for millions of eligible Americans by adding costly and burdensome new requirements for those registering to vote.
It attempts a federal takeover of state and locally administered election systems – in part by threatening states with an unlawful cutoff of funding.
Plainly, this order disregards the U.S. Constitution.
Minnesotans trust our elections because of our common-sense balance of security and accessibility. We already use paper ballots, maintain secure voter registration systems, and count only ballots matched to a registered voter and received by election day.
This executive order would undermine the balance of security and accessibility and erode the freedom to vote for millions of eligible Americans.
Our office is exploring legal options to stop this order from taking effect. I will always defend our free and fair elections, no matter what this administration will attempt to do.”
Latest Trump Executive Order Regarding Elections Violates the US Constitution
National & Minnesota Report
On Monday, Donald J Trump (R) signed an Executive Order which is based on one simple fact, it is intended to continue to foster the unmitigated lie, the 2020 election was stolen. Because of the cowardice of Republican US Senators who showed the yellow stripe on their backs and failed to vote to convict this man in the impeachment proceedings, who is unfit to sit in the Oval Office due to his actions while President and prior to his election, we are once again in troubled times.
Also, the hubbub over the National Security debacle has put this issue clearly on the back burner of the Mainstream Media, and that might have been the actual purpose.
In this era Chaotic Irrationality, we are experiencing a full frontal attack against democracy, combined with a scurrilous undermining of all of governmental protections for our citizenry, we as United States citizens need to declare our own Citizen’s Revolt against the current Chief Executive and his Puppet Masters Elon Musk and Stephen Miller, primary author of Project 2025.
His latest Executive Order is the defining reason. Through the power of his pen, he believes, and this will need to be tested by the Legislative and Judicial Branches, which will likely fail, but if any part of his Order stands it is a direct challenge to years of democratic reforms that started with the original constitutional language and subsequent amendments.
His Order Reads:
Executive Order to protect the integrity of American elections.
- This Order strengthens voter citizenship verification and bans foreign nationals from interfering in U.S. elections.
- The Election Assistance Commission will require documentary, government-issued proof of U.S. citizenship on its voter registration forms.
- Agencies like the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Social Security Administration and Department of State must provide states with access to Federal databases to verify eligibility and citizenship of individuals registering to vote.
- The Attorney General will prioritize prosecuting non-citizen voting and related crimes, including through use of DHS records and coordination with state attorneys general.
- Federal election-related funds will be conditioned on states complying with the integrity measures set forth by Federal law, including the requirement that states use the national mail voter registration form that will now require proof of citizenship.
- The Order improves the integrity of elections by directing the updating of the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines 2.0 and security standards for voting equipment and prioritizing federal grant funds accordingly.
- This includes requiring a voter-verifiable paper ballot record and not using ballots in which the counted vote is contained within a barcode or QR code.
- It directs the Attorney General to enter into information-sharing agreements with state election officials to identify cases of election fraud or other election law violations.
- Non-compliant states may face prioritized Federal enforcement of election integrity laws and loss of funding given their unwillingness to police fraud.
- The Attorney General and Secretary of Homeland Security shall prevent non-citizens from any involvement in administering elections.
- The Attorney General will fully enforce the voter-list maintenance requirements of the National Voter Registration Act and the Help America Vote Act.
- Given clear Federal law setting a single Election Day deadline, the Attorney General shall take appropriate action against states that count ballots received after Election Day in Federal elections. Federal election funding will be conditioned on compliance.
- The Attorney General will prioritize enforcement of laws prohibiting foreign nationals from contributing to or donating in U.S. elections.
- All agencies must report on compliance with undoing Biden Executive Order 14019, which turned Federal agencies into Democratic voter turnout centers.
SAFEGUARDING THE VOTE:
- President Trump recognizes that free, fair, and honest elections—unmarred by fraud, errors, or suspicion—are essential to our Constitutional Republic.
- The United States lags behind other nations in enforcing basic and necessary election protections.
- India and Brazil tie voter identification to a biometric database, while the United States largely relies on self-attestation for citizenship.
- Germany and Canada require paper ballots when tabulating votes, while the United States has a patchwork of methods that often lack basic chain-of-custody protections.
- Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person—and late arrivals do not count—while American elections now feature mass voting by mail, even after Election Day.
- Without proper enforcement of Federal laws, illegal voting, discrimination, fraud, and other forms of malfeasance and error dilute the votes of lawful American citizens.
- Federal law establishes a uniform Election Day across the nation for Federal elections, but numerous states fail to comply with those laws by counting ballots received after Election Day.
- The Biden Administration blocked states from removing aliens from voter rolls, while foreign nationals and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) exploited loopholes to pour millions into influencing U.S. elections.
MAKING ELECTIONS SECURE AGAIN:
- Voters deserve elections they can trust, and that confidence is being restored thanks to President Trump.
- President Trump is following through on his promise to secure our elections.
- President Trump: “We’re going to fix our elections so that our elections are going to be honorable and honest and people leave and they know their vote is counted. We are going to have free and fair elections. And ideally, we go to paper ballots, same-day voting, proof of citizenship, very big, and voter ID, very simple.”
- President Trump: “We will secure our elections, and they will be secure once and for all.”
- Unlike the Biden Administration, which prioritized political agendas over fair elections, President Trump is putting the American people back in charge.
We doubt Trump has bothered to read the original language of the US Constitution, let alone it’s Amendments. Maybe this time he will abscond with the original document and sign his own name on it, because he thinks putting his name on something increases its value, but in this case, such branding as an addition, would make the document virtually worthless.
Each and every word written in his Executive Order is an affront to these words. An anyone with and courage will call the Attorney General’s Office (651) 296-3353 or (800) 657-3787 and ask to be entered into a lawsuit challenging the Order as a violation of your voting rights, which are afforded you by the US Constitution, Federal Laws, the Minnesota Constitution and State Laws.
Here are the provisions under threat.
Article I, Section 2:
States Determine Qualifications to Vote
“The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.”
Article I, Section 4:
States Conduct Congressional Elections
“The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of choosing Senators.” U.S. Senators were originally chosen by their respective State Legislatures until the passage in 1913 of the 17th Amendment which provides for the direct popular election of Senators.
Article II, Section 1:
States Conduct Presidential Elections
“Each State shall appoint, in such Manner as the Legislature thereof may direct, a number of Electors, equal to the whole Number of Senators and Representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress: but no Senator or Representative, or Person holding an Office of Trust or Profit under the United States, shall be appointed an Elector.” and later: “The Congress may determine the Time of choosing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.”
If this Executive Order is allowed to stand unchallenged the 2026 Midterm Elections are impinged, as well as the 2028 Presidential Election.
As Trump has already tried to advance slates of false Presidential Electors it should be reaffirmed as is already known the manner of choosing Presidential Electors remains a matter for sole consideration in each State, and all state have since 1860 have employed a direct popular vote for Presidential Electors.
Prior, however, several States chose their Electors by a vote of their State Legislature rather than by designation by the popular vote.
Additionally, the Amendments may need reaffirmation.
The 15th Amendment (1870)
Eliminating Racial Barriers “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.”
The 19th Amendment (1920)
Eliminating Sexual Barriers “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
The 24th Amendment (1964)
Eliminating Poll Taxes “The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax.”
The Voting Rights Act of 1965
As amended, extends the prohibition on poll taxes to cover all elections by virtue of the 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution.
In fact, we believe the US Congress should show the nation it actually is true to the oath it’s members and all judges, and members of the armed forces take:
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.
In this case we mean, actively voting on the floor of the House and Senate to affirm the separate provisions of the entirety of the US Constitution and all of its amendments.
Incompetence of the Trump National Security Team Creates a Threat to Our Country’s Intelligence and National Defense and Violates the Public Trust
International, National and Minensota
We learned on Monday, from an article in the Atlantic by Editor in Chief Jeffery Goldberg, who wrote The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans of the ham-handed nature of the National Security Team which included but is not limited to J D Vance, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbert, National Security Advisor Michael Waltz, and Trump Envoy Steve Wittkoff, who so happened to be in Russia at the time of the group chat. This chat was made on an unsecured app called Signal, and could have been compromised through the many participants lack of security or the fact their personal devices on which they were using. These cellphone, were never cleared by the State Department and the firing of the 17 Inspector Generals may have be a serious part of the reason.
In the aftermath were have heard constant unsubstantiated statements, from some chat participants, “No classified information was communicated.” Although, this is not true as now has been stated by Goldberg. He is showing his ability to contend against the false words from the Trump officials who follow the “Liar in Chief’s” operational style. So far, the White House is not willing to release a transcript of the chat, which if at least provided to the appropriate Congressional Committees is closed sessions would clear up the matter quickly.
Right now, we are lucky the operation bombing the Houthi’s in Yemen, was a veritable success, but the sophomoric behavior of lauding the mission as attack with virtual high fives and pats on the back along with other emoticons means they took pleasure at inflicting pain and suffering on others, when this should have been a solemn exchange of information.
Where is Amy Klobuchar’s Name in the Discussions for Minority Leader
National & Minnesota Report
We are not calling for the ouster of US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) yet, although a vote of confidence in the Democratic Conference might be nigh. If it occurs and we haven’t heard the mention of our own Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) is a leadership shuffle conversation on any of the national news sources.
If she were to be tapped as the first woman leader of the most exclusive club in the nation, it might quell any ambition for the Oval Office in 2028, but it also might fire it up. But, the heightened viability would definitely be a boon for our state.
Good for the Goose Good for the Gander
Minnesota Report
Sen Justin Eichorn (R-06, Grand Rapids) has a new name John, and was arrested for solicitation of a minor for prostitution in Bloomington on St Patrick’s Day. We understand he was meeting a sixteen year old for prostitution. Since Eichorn has consistently voted in favor expulsion of Sen Nicole Mitchell (DFL-47, Woodbury), his past votes now seems quite ironic. Solicitation of a minor for sex is a felony charge.
We wonder if the Republicans will be as apt to push for Mitchell’s expulsion any longer. As was done on January 27, 2025 by Eichorn’s colleague Sen Jordan Rasmusson (R-09, Fergus Falls) moved the following, Pursuant to Article IV, Section 7 of the Constitution of the State of Minnesota, Senator Rasmusson moved that Senator Nicole Mitchell be expelled from the Minnesota Senate effective immediately, and that a vacancy be declared in the office for Senate District 47.
The motion was called out of order and the position of the Senate President Bobby Jo Champion (DFL-59, Minneapolis) was called into question and on a party line vote the DFL Majority prevailed, specifically because Mitchell voted on the matter, which was not as has been falsely claimed, her expulsion but rather the ruling of the chair.
We are hearing a few Republican Senators are calling for Eichorn to resign. If he were to do so, this would improve the DFL majority and allow the possibility for Mitchell not to vote.
Meeting of the Minds in the Governor’s Office
Minnesota Report
The House and Senate leadership of both parties are scheduled to meet with Gvoernor Tim Walz (DFL-MN) tomorrow. It will be the first such meeting of this legislative session and also the first since the Republicans and the DFL have secured a tied 67-67 vote. Speaker Lisa DeMuth (R-13B, Cold Spring retains the gavel, and now all House Committees have Co-Chairs.
The clear differences between the two sides, are this pure and simple fact, Republicans are the anti-government party and the DFL is the Pro-government party. If the two sides are unable to reach a compromise on the size of the state budget targets, then they will force the need for a Special Session after the adjournment date of May 19th.
There needs to be a public pronouncement of any agreement on committee deadlines, targets and ultimately the State Budget. There are two structural breaks, a short one at the end of the month, and from April 11th-21st for the Easter Passover break.
Calls for Somaliland to Accept Gaza Palestinian Refugees is Supported by Elders of the Community
International, National, & Minnesota Report
You may not have ever heard of it, but there is a place on the Horn of Africa called Somaliland. It is not fully recognized currently the emerging nation has political connections and so informal embassies in Ethiopia, Djibouti, Belgium, Canada, France, Ghana, Kenya, Norway, Russia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen. Rep Ilhan Omar (D-MN05) a refugee of Somali, is a staunch opponent to the formation of Somaliland and very hostile to its supporters.
In his call for different nations to accept the Palestinian refugees from Gaza, Donald J Trump R) identified the different places Sudan, Somalia and Somaliland. Four days ago the AP reported. “The contacts with Sudan, Somalia and the breakaway region of Somalia known as Somaliland reflect the determination by the U.S. and Israel to press ahead with a plan that has been widely condemned and raised serious legal and moral issues.” Because these two nations and an emerging one are poor it is seen in some circles as oppression by the a first world nation on third world countries.
Because of our exposure to the Somaliland movement we are hearing there are leaders willing to accept this idea. The rationale being if they put themselves on the international stage, and assit in this instance their own recognition could follow. The area is oil rich, and the Chinese have two-year leases to develop the oil industry.
Here is a handmade Somaliland Flag.
Tariff Tuesday’s Continue
National & Minnesota Report
With the announcement today, of Donald J Trump’s (R) recent spate of tariffs, which keep coming on Tuesdays, now establishes a 25% tariff on all imports of aluminum and steel coming from every source, America is now at odds will all importing nations. This is resulting in reciprocal retaliatory tariffs. The European Union, Canada and we expect more nations to follow suit.
In the economic arena, Trump is continuing to play the role of the Chaotic Irrational actor. One day its 25%, then as he said, but didn’t follow through on, an increase for Canada to 50%, but then extended it to all importing nations, throws a monkey wrench into the global economy. The argument of creating a level playing field is now the term of art being used, when before the purpose was a Drug War against Fentaynl coming from Canada. The arbitrary and quixotic rationale for whatever action seem unbounded and only justified in the mind of the Orange Headed Imbecile.
As people who follow the stock market and commodity futures watch the gains made from the start of his second term of office to now are witnessing an evaporation and increasing instability and uncertainty are developing a wariness toward America. Especially, with our international partners both economically and in regards to our geopolitical alliances.
It looks like the Madman Theory is fully underway.
Finally an Election Result in Roseville and the Table is Set, Now What Will Be Served?
Minnesota Report
The closely watched Special Election in 40B-Roseville, was positioned to determine a potential historic election of a tied state houseand establish the balance of power in the State House. Candidate David Gottfried (DFL-40B, Roseville) trounced Paul Wikstrom (R-40B, Roseville) by 40.4%. As you likely may know, DFL candidate Curtis Johnson, was ruled disqualified as a candidate after having failed to prove legal residency after his 30% point victory over Wikstrom in November.
This victory by Gottfried emanated from a sizable turnout in the district for a Special Election where 46.69% of General Election Voters participated and in turn the number of voters were better than half of those voting in the General Election vote were 53.44% the Registered voters .
Primary Election Total Votes Cast 13,331
|
Party |
Candidate |
Vote Total |
% |
|
Republican |
Paul Wikstrom |
3,966 |
29.75% |
|
Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
David Gottfried |
9,352 |
70.15% |
|
WRITE-IN |
WRITE-IN |
13 |
0.10% |
General Election Total Votes Cast 24,486
|
Party |
Candidate |
Vote Total |
% |
|
Democratic-Farmer-Labor |
Curtis Johnson |
15,963 |
65.19% |
|
Republican |
Paul Wikstrom |
8,460 |
34.55% |
|
WRITE-IN |
WRITE-IN |
63 |
0.26% |
The resulting situation is all House Legislative Committees, with the exception of the Fraud Prevention and State Agency Oversight Policy will be co-Chaired by both Republicans and DFLers, due to a power sharing agreement struck after a one month holdout by the DFL. As we have discussed previously and asked of the now Co-Chair of the Ways and Means Committee Paul Torkelson (R- 15B, Hanska) if the House Committee structure was effectively now just like Conference Committees and he agreed.
This being the case, with an even number of members, and the rules of the process being, we expect a member can only serve on the committee if they voted for the bill in question and we’re not sure how the dynamics will be if there are an odd number of members from the House and Senate, but if there an even number of members it could all workout, expect the Senate will always have a vote advantage.
This will prove to be interesting none the less.
Trump Only Offers Chaotic Irrationality
National & Minnesota Report
New reports about Donald J Trump (R) opened with terms like whiplash and rollercoaster when describing the decisions made at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue over the course of the last two days. In the matter of tariffs, Trump signed an Executive Order pausing the increased costs applied to imports from Canada and Mexico until April 2nd, while maintaining these actions on China. The temporary about-face appears to have been a reaction to the stock market where the Dow fell nearly 650 points, the S&P 500 fell 2% and the NASDAQ Composite plunged down 2.6%. In addition to dire calls from the Automobile industry both in the manufacturing sector of Detroit and the Automobile dealers across the nation. Especially, since most decisions in this industry are made 5-7 years in advance.
The Chaotic Irrationality in international trade, especially with our trading partners, delivered by Trump provides a great deal of uncertainty and no ability to predict the future. This coupled with his partial retraction of the universal power of Elon Musk and DOGE to continue to use a meat cleaver or better yet a chainsaw to dismantle the federal government civil service system, by saying the US Senate confirmed Cabinet Secretaries have the responsibility to make the final decisions in their respective Departments.
Right now, to many the Trump Administration appears rudderless and off course. The feeling of heartlessness and the mean spirited actions seem overly harsh. But, Republican members of Congress still remain as lapdogs and none have publicly come forward to criticize Trump. The best assessment is if the Republican Party is so obsessed with Transgender issues, then they should see themselves in the mirror as merely emasculated persons and ban themselves from any sports what-so-ever.
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