In "Turnout," the architect and chief promoter of Minnesota’s high voter  turnout tells her story, showing how hard work and cooperation made the  state a leader in clean, open elections.  High voter turnout in Minnesota is no accident. I

t arose from the  traditions of this state’s early Yankee and northern European  immigrants, and it has been sustained by wisely chosen election  policies. Many of these policies were designed and implemented during  the twenty-four-year tenure of Minnesota secretary of state Joan  Anderson Growe.  

In inspiring and often funny prose, Growe recounts the events that  framed her life and changed the state’s voting practices. She grew up in  a household that never missed an election. After an astounding  grassroots feminist campaign, she was elected to the state legislature  in 1972; two years later, she was elected secretary of state, the  state’s chief elections administrator. As one of the nation’s leading  advocates for reliable elections and convenient voting, Growe worked  with county officials to secure Election Day registration (used for the  first time in 1974) as a Minnesota norm. She brought new technology into  elections administration and promoted motor voter registration. And as  an ardent feminist, she has encouraged and inspired scores of other  women to run for office.  

Joan Growe and co-author Lori Sturdevant will discuss the book and Ms.  Growe’s time in office with a talk that is part political history and  part memoir, and a reminder to Minnesotans to cherish and protect their  tradition of clean, open elections.

View the video: https://youtu.be/Cz2bM2ugc3I