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Farhiya Abdi Dool, 38, and Amina A Hassan, 31, each face one felony charge of unlawful voting for voting once by absentee ballot and once at a polling place during the 2012 general election ... Double voting in a federal election is a federal crime. So far, the U.S. Justice Department has been slack in enforcing this federal law which protects federal (as opposed to state) interests. Meloweese Richardson in Ohio still has not been charged with double voting. Neither has Wendy Rosen in Maryland. There are more. Why isn't Eric Holder's Justice Department enforcing federal laws against double voting?

Gay marriage advocates cheered victories in voter initiatives in Maryland and Maine on Tuesday night and seemed poised to win in two other states. The votes were first setbacks at the ballot box for opponents of same-sex marriage after more than 30 victories. With 93 percent of the vote counted in Maryland, Ballot Question 6, which legalizes gay marriage in the state, was leading by 52 percent to 48 percent, and supporters were already claiming victory in the heated and expensive battle. “Today the marriage equality map expands to Maryland, giving thousands more loving couples the opportunity to make lifelong...

A constitutional amendment that would define marriage in Minnesota as between 1 man and 1 woman remains today as it was 2 weeks ago, nose-to-nose, too-close-to-call, according to a SurveyUSA poll conducted for KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities. 48% of Minnesota likely voters today vote Yes on the marriage amendment, 47% vote No, within the survey's possible sources of error. Compared to an identical SurveyUSA poll 2 weeks ago, Yes is up 1 point, No is up 1 point. Yes had led by 1, Yes still leads by 1. Any outcome is possible. In an election in Minnesota today for...

New Minnesota Poll: Romney 46%, 0bama 45% NMB Research conducted a statewide survey of 500 likely voters in Minnesota from October 30-31, 2012. Twenty percent (20%) of the interviews were conducted with cell phone respondents. The margin of error for the survey is plus or minus 4.38 percent in 95 out of 100 cases.

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Mitt Romney is suddenly plunging into traditionally Democratic-leaning Minnesota and Pennsylvania, and his GOP allies are trying to put Michigan into play. It's forcing President Barack Obama to defend his own turf - he's pouring money into television ads in the states and dispatching top backers - in the campaign's final week.

Next week voters in Maine, Maryland and Washington will vote on whether to redefine marriage to include same-sex couples. Given that there are good people on both sides of this issue, how are we to explain their opposing views? The primary explanation is this: Proponents and opponents ask two different questions. Proponents of same-sex marriage ask: Is keeping the definition of marriage as man-woman fair to gays? Opponents of same-sex marriage ask: Is same-sex marriage good for society? Few on either side honestly address the question of the other side. Opponents of same-sex marriage rarely acknowledge how unfair the age-old...

Proponents of same-sex marriage have attempted to reassure citizens that changing the meaning of marriage won't restrict the free-speech rights and religious freedom of those who oppose doing so. However, that's not the message sent by Gallaudet University's suspension of a top administrator simply for signing a petition to put the contentious social question directly to the people of Maryland, one of four states where marriage is on the ballot in November. The persecution of Angela McCaskill is just the latest telling indicator of the hostile climate surrounding those perceived as resisting efforts to redefine marriage. McCaskill, Gallaudet's chief diversity...

With one week to go, states that were once considered Obama strongholds now look less solid. Republican groups are putting resources into Minnesota and Pennsylvania. Team Obama brushes off these incursions as wishful thinking by Republicans, but noticeably they are putting money and muscle into both states. Minnesota has been added to Bill Clinton’s schedule. And, Obama campaign officials admitted that they will once again start running ads in Pennsylvania. See all of ABC’s race ratings and make your own electoral map. So, what is happening in Minnesota? Demographics. As our ABC/Washington Post poll has shown, Romney has a substantial...

As the presidential race tightens across the country, a new Star Tribune Minnesota Poll has found that it is narrowing here as well, with President Obama holding a 3-point lead and Republican Mitt Romney making gains in the state. The poll shows Obama with support from 47 percent of likely voters and Romney earning backing from 44 percent -- a lead within the poll's margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points. Last month, Obama had an 8-percentage point advantage in the Minnesota Poll. Romney has apparently cut into the Democrat's advantage among women since then and picked...

Tom Hauser @5hauser DEVELOPING: Senior Romney national campaign official tells MN GOP a visit to MN by Romney and/or Ryan for campaign rallies being considered.— Tom Hauser (@5hauser) October 28, 2012

The last time Minnesota cast its electoral votes for a Republican running for President was 1972. Even Ronald Reagan failed to win the state in both back-to-back landslide elections. It has elected Republicans to the occasional state-wide office, but for President, it is a deep indigo blue. Except, perhaps, this year. A new poll released this morning by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune finds the race essentially tied. Obama holds a slim 3-point lead but, at 47% support, is below the critical 50% threshold.  To be fair, Minnesota wasn't really part of Obama's firewall for his reelection hopes. It was more of...

Still think @barackobama's MSP ad buy is just for WI?Poll out tomorrow has MN within the margin: bit.ly/TN8AM4 #gameon— Ryan Mahoney (@rcmahoney) October 28, 2012

Breaking: Obama campaign is going up with TV ads in...Minnesota. Scott Conroy ‏@RealClearScott Obama camp says MN ads are targeted to WI (Minneapolis market covers 7 WI counties) but buy comes after Romney camp went up in MN. Garrett Haake ‏@GarrettNBCNews Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom says he believes race in MN is tied, which is why they're going up with ads in Minneapolis.

President Obama earns just over 50% of the vote in Minnesota. A new telephone survey of Likely Minnesota Voters finds Barack Obama with 51% support to 46% for Mitt Romney. One percent (1%) prefers some other candidate, while another one percent (1%) is undecided.

Minnesota has crept into the news cycle recently with senior campaign surrogates stumping in the state and campaign dollars flowing to a state once thought out of reach for Republicans this cycle. I received a lot of push-back over my conclusion regarding Minnesota’s competitiveness based on Rochester, Minnesota being a top 10 ad market this week. Upon closer inspection, however, the evidence keeps piling up that the Land of 10,000 Lakes should be on everyone’s radar for an election night surprise. The latest is a poll released yesterday from SurveyUSA gives President Obama a 10-point lead over Mitt Romney, 50...

"Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future." -- JOHN F. KENNEDY There are countless wonderful programs and organizations dedicated to making sure that kids are safe, involved in school and off drugs, out of poverty, eating healthier, not engaging in self-destructive behavior, and achieving their dreams. I remember practicing "stop, drop and roll" in first grade, completing "Dare to Keep Kids Off Drugs" in fifth grade, and having teachers and counselors guide me through the right classes and activities to set me on a successful path to college. As a former teacher, I...

Some polls are showing Romney with a strong surge and within striking distance of winning Minnesota and some pundits are saying that will happen. There is clear evidence of strong support and this big sign in a front yard in Stillwater, Minnesota shows that.

Key Findings: 1. The Romney-Ryan team is right in the thick of things in Minnesota. Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan trail Barack Obama and Joe Biden by just four points – 43% Romney/Ryan to 47% Obama/Biden in the Presidential race in Minnesota. While Minnesota is a Democratic state, the Romney/Ryan ticket’s 45%-32% lead over Obama/Biden among Independents makes the state competitive. Romney/Ryan lead 45%-42% among men, but trail 42%-52% among women. 2. While Obama’s image is decent overall, he has real problems with Independents. Romney’s image is 45% favorable/44% unfavorable, which is a little weaker than Obama’s 50% favorable/44% unfavorable...

Jill Biden, the wife of Vice President Joe Biden, will campaign in Minnesota next week. Events aren't finalized but a Democratic official says Biden will campaign in Minneapolis and Duluth on Oct. 19 and Oct. 20. This will be Jill Biden's second campaign stop in Minnesota since Labor Day. The announcement comes on the same day that Paul Ryan, the Republican nominee for Vice President, is scheduled to hold a private fundraiser in Minneapolis. Guests are being asked to give at least $1,000 to attend the event. Couples who give $25,000 can attend a private dinner with Ryan. Ryan has...

A new poll of Minnesota voters shows Democratic President Obama with a ten percentage point advantage over Republican Mitt Romney and Democratic Senate incumbent Amy Klobuchar with a 26 percentage point advantage over Republican Kurt Bills. The poll of Minnesota voters actually showed the president support narrowly increased from 51 percent to Romney's 44 percent in September to 53 percent to Romney's 43 percent in the recent polling. The PPP poll of Minnesota was done on Saturday and Sunday, perhaps mitigating the Obama dip of immediately after the Wednesday debate. The pollster, which works with Democrats but releases public polls...