ST. PAUL 鈥� The Minnesota GOP, alongside the Upper Midwest Law Center and MN Voters Alliance, said Wednesday morning that it has filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court questioning Hennepin County鈥檚 election integrity 鈥� specifically, the party makeup of the county鈥檚 election board.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Oct. 16, representatives of the petitioning organizations said Hennepin County may have failed to comply with the state law that requires election boards to have a balance in party affiliations.
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The petitioners allege that the Republican Party may not have appropriate representation on the board.
Minnesota State Law says that election boards in each county must be balanced in party affiliation and chosen from a list of eligible judges that the parties submit to the Minnesota Secretary of State. This law was put into place following the 2008 election between U.S. Senate candidates Norm Coleman and Al Franken, .
James Dickey of the UMLC said at the press conference that he filed a public data request in August for Hennepin County鈥檚 list of election judges but that his request was not fulfilled. Dickey said he followed up with Hennepin County in September to again ask for the names of the election judges.
鈥淭hey said, 鈥榃e actually don't maintain the information that you're asking for as a matter of data within the county,鈥� which is impossible and a violation of the Data Practices Act in the first place,鈥� Dickey said.
Dickey said that while the list of names was provided on Oct. 4, the party affiliation of these judges is still unknown.
鈥淲hen we had an opportunity to check the names on that list versus the names that we had submitted to the Secretary of State鈥檚 office, we found that none of the names that we had provided as Republican candidates for election judges appeared on the Hennepin County Board,鈥� said Republican Party Chair David Hann.
During the conference, petitioners explained that Andy Cilek, executive director of MN Voters Alliance, reached out to 25 of the people on the GOP鈥檚 list of eligible election judges for Hennepin County. According to the petitioners, none of the people had been contacted by Hennepin County and seven of the individuals said they would be immediately willing to serve the election board.
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鈥淲e have an interest, as everybody does, with elections that are administered fairly, and part of that process is to make sure that when you have a question about the ballot itself 鈥� you want people from both sides to be looking at this and making the decisions,鈥� Hann said. 鈥淚 think every citizen would have an interest in that. I think Democrats would have an interest in that.鈥�
The petitioners said they have checked other counties 鈥� primarily those in more highly populated areas where the most voters would be impacted. Dickey explained that the petitioners aren鈥檛 aware of similar problems in other counties and that most have shown interest in complying.
Hann said the main purpose of this challenge is not to put blame on anyone but to ensure Hennepin County complies with the law.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know where the fault is,鈥� Hann said. 鈥淒id the secretary of state not provide the list of the county? I don't know. I assume he did, and why the county didn鈥檛 comply with the law? I don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Hennepin County Auditor Daniel Rogan said the county will address the allegations directly through filings submitted to the court, but that the county鈥檚 procedures are consistent with state law.
鈥淗ennepin County complies with Minnesota law and guidance from the Office of the Secretary of State with respect to appointing absentee ballot board members and the duties they perform,鈥� Rogan said in a statement. 鈥淲e are proud of the accuracy and integrity of our voting process.鈥�
Dickey, of UMLC, said they have asked for a hearing as early as next Thursday.
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The Secretary of State's office declined to provide a comment at this time.
The Trust Project
