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Home / MN: Media Sues State for Access to PollsMN: Media Sues State for Access to Polls
Last Updated on Tuesday, 30 September 2008 11:05 Written by rslcpol Tuesday, 30 September 2008 11:05
From oanow.com:
The lawsuit names Minnesota Secretary of State Mark Ritchie and Attorney General Lori Swanson. It says the plaintiffs contacted the secretary of state’s office earlier this month to urge that they be allowed to conduct exit polling within the 100-foot zone, but were told they could not as long as the law remains in effect. A spokesman for the secretary of state did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Minnesota is the only state in this election that’s seeking to impose such a restrictive distance requirement, Buckley said.
This lawsuit is the 12th in 10 states to challenge the constitutionality of restrictions affecting exit polling, Buckley said. Courts in all 10 states have ruled that such rules violate the First Amendment.
If you’re a fan of the exit polling – as clearly the media and news junkies are – this is an outrage (I’m a junkie). These MN officials need to get a grip of what’s going on, and let the press get close enough to do their job. Barring the press from getting any closer to these select precincts might also raise some questions about just what Minnesota Democrats don’t want the media to see.