Supreme Court rules Hennepin County Absentee Ballot Board must comply with state law in choosing election judges by Nov. 1
A petition in the Minnesota Supreme Court accusing Hennepin County of failing to comply with election law by not appointing election judges from a chosen list for its Absentee Ballot Board was granted on Tuesday.
The petition was filed by the Minnesota Voters Alliance, the Republican Party of Minnesota, Karen Attia, Marlene Stoick and Richard Sutter on Oct. 15 against Hennepin County, Ginny Gelms — the elections official for Hennepin County — and Daniel Rogan, the County Auditor for Hennepin County.
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The petitioners accused the county and county officials of violating Minnesota law under allegations they didn’t “appoint any election judges from the Republican Party of Minnesota’s dedicated list… of candidate election judges as required by law.”
In a decision from the Minnesota Supreme Court on Tuesday, Chief Justice Natalie E. Hudson said the governing body of the Hennepin County Absentee Ballot Board “must appoint election judges from the Republican Part List and may appoint Republican-affiliated election judges not appearing on that list only after it has exhausted the candidates on the list.” The county has until Nov. 1 to comply.
In response, Rogan sent a statement saying, in part, that the county had exhausted the Republican Party List and adding that the Supreme Court had denied all of the petioners other claims.
The full statement from Rogan on Tuesday states, “Today, the Minnesota Supreme Court issued an order on narrow grounds, holding that Republican-affiliated election judges may not be appointed to the Hennepin County Absentee Ballot Board until Hennepin County has exhausted the Republican Party List. The Court denied all of the petitioners’ other claims for relief. Importantly, the Court recognized the county’s ballot board was operating with party balance.
This year, Hennepin County cities exhausted the list and needed to recruit thousands of additional election judges who are not on the major political party list. Based on the Supreme Court’s order, the county cannot rely on exhaustion by its cities but must contact residents on the major political party list directly. Hennepin County will send an email to individuals on the major political party list tomorrow to recruit election judges for the county absentee ballot board.”
A statement from the Minnesota Republican Party can be found in full below.
