Jacobs, Lawrence R.2020-10-272020-10-272009-07-10https://hdl.handle.net/11299/216910The 2008 U.S. Senate Recount was the longest in Minnesota history. The intense scrutiny both demonstrated that Minnesota's elections process largely worked well and pinpointed weaknesses. Failure to address these weaknesses leaves Minnesota vulnerable to another exhausting recount. The State's leading voices in elections administration discussed designing reforms and next steps. Panelists included Mark Ritchie, Minnesota Secretary of State, Ann Rest, Minnesota Senator (DFL), Tom Emmer, Minnesota Representative (GOP), and Joe Mansky, Ramsey County Elections Manager. The event was moderated by Professor Lawrence R. Jacobs. Tom Emmer is currently serving his third term in the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represents District 19B. Representative Emmer has served on the following legislative committees: Regulated Industries, Public Safety/Civil Law & Elections (chair, Data Practices Subcommittee), Ethics (co-chair), and Health Policy & Finance, Governmental Operations, Reform, Technology & Elections and the Criminal Records Relief Subcommittee. Tom received his Juris Doctor from William Mitchell College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from University of Alaska at Fairbanks. Joseph Mansky has been the Ramsey County elections manager since 2002. Prior to coming to Ramsey County, he was the manager of Governor Jesse Ventura’s redistricting commission. He also was a staff member for the Minnesota secretary of state from 1984 to 1999, serving the last 11 years as state election director. Ann Rest is a Minnesota State Senator representing district 45. Rest currently chairs the State and Local Government Operations and Oversight Committee, and serves as a member of the Transportation Budget and Policy Committee; the Energy, Utilities, Technology and Communications Committee; and, the State Government Budget Division. Senator Rest holds a B.A. from Northwestern University. She also has graduate degrees from the University of Chicago, the University of Minnesota, Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education and Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Mark Ritchie serves as Minnesota's 21st Secretary of State. As Secretary of State, Mark Ritchie partners with township, city, and county officials to organize elections on behalf of Minnesota's nearly 4 million eligible voters. Ritchie also oversees a wide range of services provided by the Office of Secretary of State including business filings, the archiving of official documents, administering the appointments process for state-level commissions, and operating Minnesota's address confidentiality program.enPresentation