Anoka County should fully support any city that chooses to use paper poll pads
Electronic poll pads that were not properly rolled out in 2018 and yet the County sent a threatening letter to election workers before the election.
This speech was given to Board of Commissioners in Anoka County yesterday during the public comment period where the video feed has been switched off:
My name is Derek Lind and I live in Ramsey.
On September 30, of 2024 the City of Oak Grove voted 4-0 to cancel their electronic poll pad agreement they had with Anoka County.
Oak Grove did this for 2 reasons:
1, Oak Grove didn’t want to use electronic poll pads.
2, The agreement allowed for either party to cancel with just 7 days notice.
Anoka County responded 28 days afterwards with a letter threatening to prosecute their election judges with a felony if they used paper poll pads.
This was not a good look for Anoka County. That is probably why that letter was not dated or signed by anyone.
Isanti County which borders Oak Grove to the north still uses paper poll pads today, and yet their election judges are not threatened by their county with a felony.
This gets more interesting.
The poll pad agreement that Oak Grove cancelled was never voted on by the Anoka County Board of Commissioners. Most of the cities never voted on it either. That means it was never properly delegated.
These electronic poll pads were a major change to our election system in 2018 and yet their roll out was handled mostly by the staff on both sides.
Because of this sloppy roll out, on 11/5/2024 all citizens of Anoka County were forced to use an electronic poll pad that we can never trust.
Here is what needs to happen now. Anoka County should fully support any city that chooses to use paper poll pads.
Paper is the only secure option for checking voters in. Paper is transparent and paper can be audited at any time. Most importantly, paper protects the voter’s privacy and their data from leaving the precinct until the election is over.
Thank you.
