ACLU says nobody won its voter fraud challenge

Officials with the American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota say nobody won its cash reward for proof of a prosecuted voter impersonation case.

The ACLU had offered the cash reward as a challenge to those who support a proposed constitutional amendment that would require voters to show a photo ID before casting their ballots.

Two claims were made on the $1,000 reward, including one from the pro-voter ID group Minnesota Majority and another from an individual. But ACLU Executive Director Chuck Samuelson said Monday that neither example met the reward criteria, and the money will be used to help defeat the amendment in November.

Samuelson contends the voter ID requirement could prevent thousands of eligible Minnesotans from voting.

"This amendment potentially could cause three quarters of a million people to be denied the right to vote -- 215,000 -- by the fact that they either don't have a state identification card, or the state identification card that they have has an improper address," Samuelson said.

Dan McGrath, executive director of the election watchdog group Minnesota Majority, said the Anoka County case he recently highlighted would have been prevented under a voter ID law. He said the ACLU welched the bet.