Sunday Sunshine

 

Another beautiful day in Saint Michal, Minnesota. The sky is blue, beautiful puffy white clouds, and a high of 84 degrees. Joe installed fencing around the apple trees to keep deer and other wildlife out. Today’s two  photos are of him watering in the backyard, I took them from the sunroom (aka my office). In one photo you can see the mulch on the back property line as well as around the apple trees. The second photo is a closer view of the fence. The fencing is six feet high though it looks higher because of the sloping yard. Next year, Joe plans to terrace the apple tree area. Tomorrow, he plans to begin working on the terrace where the last two of the eight raised garden beds are located.

Meanwhile, I finished the on-line training for poll judges this morning. To those not familiar with election poll workers – the use of the term “judge” does not mean the poll worker is making decisions about who can and cannot vote. Voting is based on registration and checking to make sure the voter has not already voted by absentee ballot. In Minnesota a voter can register the same day in which case a registration judge makes sure that the paperwork the voter submits to establish residency meets legal requirements. Registering voters do not have to bring proof of citizenship though they are asked if they are U.S. Citizens and over the age of eighteen and sign an oath that they are eligible to vote.

As someone aware of the concerns some people have that non-citizens are allowed into the country so they can vote for Democrats, I decided to research the issue further. It appears to be a non-issue in Minnesota and a new law that allows people to be automatically registered to vote when getting a drivers’ license requires proof of citizenship. From the article:  “But won’t the new automatic voter registration law (AVR) lead to immigrants being registered to vote? No. Under AVR, Driver and Vehicle Services (DVS) must have documented proof of U.S. citizenship before it forwards driver’s license and ID card applicant information to the secretary of state for voter registration.” {https://news.stthomas.edu/in-the-news-virgil-wiebe-on-why-noncitizen-voting-is-a-nonissue-in-minnesota/). An abstract of the original research paper can be found here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4839678

I still have a judges guide to read through. Fortunately, it is only eighty pages. I may have to do additional training modules once  it is determined which role I am assigned.

The rest of our day is dedicated to chilling out.