ST. PAUL, Minnesota (AP) — The Minnesota Legislature should require the Secretary of State’s office to proofread each county’s ballots before they are mailed, Republican challenger Kim Crockett said Thursday. as she denounced ballot printing errors in four counties.
Crockett acknowledged that state law does not require the secretary of state’s office to review ballots from every precinct in the state for accuracy — that has long been the responsibility of counties in the state. Minnesota. But she suggested Democratic incumbent Steve Simon should have caught the errors anyway, since counties are required to send copies to his office.
“I think it’s a joint responsibility, certainly, between the secretary’s office and the counties, and it’s something that I think the legislature needs to step in and fix immediately,” Crockett told a conference in hurry.
Crockett has been a harsh critic in the campaign for Simon’s insistence on ease of voting. She repeated her previous statement that the 2020 election was “rigged” once morest President Donald Trump and called Simon’s measures to facilitate voting amid the pandemic “anarchic and partisan.” Courts have accepted many of these temporary measures, but have ruled once morest some.
While Trump’s false allegations of widespread fraud have led many of his supporters to doubt the integrity of the election process, multiple reviews, legal challenges and senior Trump administration officials have asserted that no fraud would have changed the results.
Asked if she was suspicious of Minnesota’s 2020 results when President Joe Biden carried the state, Crockett replied, “I don’t think we’ll ever know precisely what happened.”
Simon’s spokeswoman, Cassondra Knudson, said her office was always open to suggestions for improving election administration, but would like to fully consider any proposal and consult with local election officials before committing their support.
“We believe local election officials are the experts and trust them to do their job diligently,” Knudson added in an email. “During recent ballot printing errors, each issue was quickly identified and prompt action was taken to ensure a solution that satisfies both those listed on the ballot and the voters.”
Voting in Minnesota began Sept. 23. The problem in Roseau and Kittson counties in northwest Minnesota was that the same vendor failed to include candidates’ party designations when it printed their ballots. The seller also left out the “incumbent” designation next to sitting judicial candidates seeking re-election, although there were no contested judgeships on the ballot in those counties this year. .
The Minnesota Supreme Court on Monday allowed the two counties to reprint the ballots. Residents who have already voted and wish to change their mind will be notified that they can vote once more. Otherwise, their votes will still count. About 150 ballots were returned between the two counties before the errors surfaced, Minnesota Public Radio reported.
Both counties are sparsely populated but voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump in the 2020 election.
A clerical error in Ramsey County that led to mail-in ballots bearing the name of a deceased GOP candidate in a St. Paul-area legislative district has been similarly resolved. earlier this month. Permission to correct another printing error, in Murray County, southwestern Minnesota, which involved the wrong district numbers for the legislative elections, is pending from the Supreme Court.
Steve Karnowski, l’Associated Press
