Four years ago in the 2010 election, we editorialized that it was time for Al Jaeger to retire. Now, it is past time.
Jaeger has served North Dakota as secretary of state since 1993. For many years, he served the state well, but in recent years the secretary of state’s office has faced challenges.
Since 2006, the state has seen an influx of new businesses in our booming economy. An avalanche of business permits would test any secretary of state’s office, but under Jaeger’s leadership the office became a bottleneck, with wait times up to six weeks in 2012.
In 2004, a technology project was proposed that would create an online filing system for business registrations. The original completion and implementation date was set for 2008. In 2014, the secretary of state’s office is still on a paper filing system.
For a period of three months in 2012 Jaeger closed his office to the general public on Mondays and restricted public hours on Tuesday through Friday. North Dakota’s boom in new business registrations would be challenging for any officeholder, but Jaeger’s actions point to an office overwhelmed and inefficient.
The secretary of state’s office is not keeping up in the 21st century.
Challenger April Fairfield is the right person to take over as secretary of state. Fairfield is an experienced former legislator, serving in the North Dakota House and then Senate in 1996-2006.
Fairfield is running on a platform to streamline business registrations, provide outreach for small businesses and create a 24-hour online business portal.
She has stated the first thing she would do in office is initiate a complete and thorough audit of the technology project in order to get it on the right path to completion. She proposes an option for businesses to request expedited service and the potential for a mobile app to serve the business community.
Fairfield also proposes changes that could be made to the voter ID law passed by the Legislature in 2013. She said she would advocate for the law to be changed to accept more forms of ID, including military IDs and all tribal IDs. She said she would approach the Legislature and ask that the voter affidavit provision be reinstated. In a meeting with the Tribune’s editorial board, Fairfield said she believes “if you are an eligible voter in North Dakota, that you (should) be able to vote.”
Libertarian challenger Roland Riemers is a perennial candidate, having run for governor twice, Grand Forks County sheriff once and U.S. Senate once. Riemers has not shown he is qualified for this job.
It is time for the people to retire Jaeger. Fairfield is the right candidate at the right time for the right job. Fairfield deserves your vote for secretary of state.
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