City and county officials have responded to a photo posted online that shows boxes of ballots left unattended in an open trunk outside Edina City Hall Friday.
“Do these ballots look secure to you?” Senate District 50 Republicans posted on the social media platform X.
Do these ballots look secure to you? Photo outside Edina City Hall. @MNSteveSimon @GOPMNCD3 @MNCD5GOP @gop @EdinaMN @EdinaPatch @edinacityman @EdinaPolice @EdinaMag @lizcollin @AlphaNewsMN @Sd46G @SD50DFL @billglahn pic.twitter.com/SF03NMdpXL
— SD50MNGOP (@SD50MNGOP) October 18, 2024
A communications director for the city responded to the post, writing: “The vehicle pictured is a Hennepin County courier that came to pick up Edina’s absentee ballots this morning. Inside his vehicle are ballots that he picked up from other cities before coming to Edina. All transfer cases were received in sealed condition, and all expected ballots are accounted for by Hennepin County, according to Daniel Rogan, Hennepin County Auditor.”
UPDATE: CNN reports that the election worker who left boxes of ballots unattended has been fired. Hennepin County also acknowledged in a statement to the outlet that this was a "lapse in protocol." https://t.co/USXSsOHXUN pic.twitter.com/15UCwiMHDZ
— Alpha News (@AlphaNewsMN) October 19, 2024
The city then published a statement issued by Hennepin County along with surveillance video, which “shows the ballots in the County courier vehicle were not tampered with while left unattended.”
“Election security is of utmost importance, and Hennepin County will reinforce its transfer protocols with all county staff and vendors. An incident like this underscores the value of strong chain-of-custody processes, so that risk can be addressed and integrity can be verified,” Rogan said in that statement.
It continued:
“A Hennepin County courier vehicle was photographed on October 18 at Edina City Hall during a ballot transfer pick-up. The photograph showed the vehicle’s rear door ajar with ballot transfer cases inside. The protocol for transporting ballots is that they are to be secured at all times and Hennepin County has alerted its courier of this incident.
Hennepin County has reviewed the incident and determined that all expected ballots have been accounted for and found no evidence of tampering with sealed transfer cases. This is done by comparing the ballots received from the courier with the record in the Statewide Voter Registration System for all absentee ballots accepted by cities. The comparison demonstrated a 100% match, and this step is routine in the ballot integrity process, occurring with every transfer.
Staff have inspected individual ballots and determined that absentee ballot envelopes within the cases were received in sealed condition as well. This inspection is also a routine election integrity process.
Ballot transfer protocols ensure that every individual absentee ballot is tracked from issuance to acceptance, ensuring the integrity of absentee process, whether ballots are cast in-person or by mail.”
Several legislators expressed concern about the incident on social media, with Republican Rep. Elliott Engen calling it “disrespectful to treat the voices and votes of Minnesotans with such little oversight.”
Others wrote:
This is extremely concerning. https://t.co/vYPBOuniIt
— Rep. Harry Niska (@HarryNiska) October 19, 2024
I’m old enough to remember having an amendment so that we knew the chain of custody for the ballots … democrats voted it down cc: @nathanmhansen https://t.co/LbHAFrQjhg
— 🇺🇸Mary🇺🇸 (@RepMaryFranson) October 19, 2024
Attention @MNSteveSimon, we deserve a response! #ElectionIntegrity https://t.co/OWjlF15OpM
— Rep. Krista Knudsen (@KristaForHouse) October 18, 2024
You don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to say this is unacceptable. https://t.co/hK7K5zBceZ
— Pat Garofalo 🇺🇸 (@PatGarofalo) October 19, 2024
