Questions raised over reporting delays, irregularities in Minnesota House election results

A spokesperson stated: "It's always valuable to remember that all posted results are unofficial until the post-election review process and canvassing board meetings are complete."

By
Jenna Gloeb
-
election
A "vote here" sign outside Brookview Elementary in Woodbury. (Hayley Feland/Alpha News)

Election results across Minnesota have ignited voter concerns, with reporting delays in a major county and discrepancies on the Secretary of State’s website under scrutiny.

In Anoka County, results were released later than usual, raising questions and frustration among voters. Republican strategist and former attorney general candidate Jim Schultz said Secretary of State Steve Simon “needs to address what happened.”

“This is an unacceptable performance, and Simon must explain to the state what happened. And it will not be enough for the Secretary of State to simply point to mistakes of local election officials,” Schultz said.

As for the delays in Anoka County, Chief Communications Officer Erik Thorson attributed the issues to a surge in absentee ballots and high voter turnout.

“This was the first statewide general election under a new Minnesota law allowing absentee ballots to be returned to city halls and the government center until 8 p.m., rather than the previous 3 p.m. deadline,” Thorson said in a statement to Hometown Source, adding that some precincts experienced delays in reporting results to the county.

Thorson noted that the county’s decision to wait until all absentee ballots were fully counted before posting results was consistent with past practice.

“Delays on Election Day are a disturbance that Anoka County works hard to avoid, and the county understands the frustration of both voters and candidates,” he said. “Plans are already in the works to prevent significant delays like this from happening in the future.”

Concerns over election security

Last month, Derek Lind, a member of the Anoka County Election Integrity Team (ACEIT), shared concerns about local election security in an interview with Alpha News.

Lind’s group advocates for expanding post-election reviews and reducing reliance on electronic poll pads and tabulators.

“Right now, they only check four precincts out of 128 in Anoka County,” Lind said, calling for more robust reviews to ensure accuracy. Lind said ACEIT has successfully persuaded seven cities to increase this review, covering 17 precincts.

In response to ACEIT’s concerns, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office defended the use of ballot tabulators as best practice, citing decades of use in Minnesota and their certification by federal and state experts.  

Rep. Brad Tabke initially shown as losing with 100% reporting

Confusion also arose in the race for District 54A, where the Secretary of State’s website initially showed DFL Rep. Brad Tabke losing with 100% of precincts reporting.

Subsequent updates revealed that Tabke had actually won the race by 13 votes, meaning it will go to a recount.

Tabke’s GOP opponent, Aaron Paul, said in a post on social media that the recount results will be known around Dec. 1 and he believes “we still have a strong chance to come out on top.”

In a statement on election night, Republican House Minority Leader Lisa Demuth said her party was aware of and looking into “multiple irregularities” on the Secretary of State’s website “with results changing after 100% reporting.”

Similar discrepancy observed in Dan Wolgamott’s race

A similar issue occurred in District 14B, where DFL Rep. Dan Wolgamott was initially reported as losing with all precincts reporting. Later on election night, the results showed Wolgamott leading by 28 votes.

Sherburne County election officials then said in a statement Friday that they discovered some absentee ballots were excluded from unofficial election night results due to a data transfer issue with one ballot scanner, making Wolgamott’s lead more significant.

Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office responds to concerns

Alpha News reached out to the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office about the Anoka County delay and the tabulation and reporting discrepancies.

A spokesperson stated: “It’s always valuable to remember that all posted results are unofficial until the post-election review process and canvassing board meetings are complete.”

The office acknowledged that the 2023 law allowing absentee ballots to be returned until 8 p.m., instead of the previous 3 p.m. deadline, contributed to slower tabulation and reporting in some areas due to the “volume of these ballots.”

“Our office did quite a bit of public messaging on this so voters would know what to expect on election night,” the spokesperson said.

For District 54A, which partially covers Shakopee, the spokesperson referenced the City of Shakopee’s Facebook post explaining that results could still change even after showing 100% of precincts reporting.

The spokesperson added that Scott County’s election official also addressed the process in a recent MinnPost article.

“There was a result upload that erroneously included partial results for precincts, which our system should have suppressed. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused and will rereport once counting is complete,” the county told MinnPost.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s website offers a closer look at the election results across all 87 counties.

 

Jenna Gloeb
Website

Jenna Gloeb is an Edward R. Murrow Award-winning journalist, media producer, public speaker, and screenwriter. Most recently, she worked as a reporter and on-air host for CCX Media. Jenna is a Minnesota native and resides in the Twin Cities with her husband, son, daughter, and two dogs.

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