Secretary of State Al Jaeger said there is a difference between the call to amend Measure 2's ballot summary to reflect its mistakes and his decision to allow county auditors to accept 20,000 absentee ballot applications that violate state law.

Critics are calling on Jaeger to recall the applications that were mailed by the state GOP on Sept. 18 because they do not include an area to write in a birthday or driver's license number, which is now required by state law.

The state law was passed the last legislative session to help state officials track voters.

Jaeger said both decisions had voters' best interests in mind.

"The thing with Measure 2 is disclosure of information to the voter," Jaeger said.

The tax-cutting Measure 2's ballot summary was changed by Jaeger and Attorney General Wayne Stenhejem to reflect mistakes in three tax brackets so voters would know those mistakes would become law if passed.

Measure 2 would cut income tax in half and corporate income tax by 15 percent.

If the absentee ballot applications were recalled it would inconvenience voters, Jaeger said,

"I'm not going to sit here and have 20,000 applications returned to the voter," Jaeger said. "This wasn't their mistake, just like in Measure 2 this wasn't their mistake, but we had to disclose to the voter what it was they're going to be voting on."

But news of the application mistake drew criticism from the state's Democratic-NPL party.

"When our state laws are selectively enforced, we all lose out," said Jamie Selzler, executive director of the North Dakota Democratic-NPL Party.

Jaeger dismissed the statement as partisan.

"That to me is just unthinkable, and to twist this into partisan politics to me is very, very inappropriate," Jaeger said.

Jaeger, a Republican, said he would have made the same call if the Democratic-NPL party had sent out those ballots.

"There are no favorites being played." Jaeger said.

Michael Bommarito, director of the state's GOP, said if the ballots were recalled, "It would create a bigger problem and more confusion."

Dustin Garwylow of Americans for Prosperity, which is sponsoring Measure 2, said Jaeger should recall the ballots in light of changing the ballot language on Measure 2 to reflect its mistakes, calling the situation a "selective enforcement issue."

"If the law addresses both, and is applied to one literally, it should and must be applied to the other literally," he said.

(Reach reporter Brian Duggan at 223-8482 or brian.duggan@bismarcktribune.com.)