MNSOS and County Attorney Give Advice About Poll Pads

Unsigned Letter from Anoka County Elections Department to Election Judges Warns What Could Happen if Paper Poll Books Are Used Instead of Internet-Connected iPads

After the City of Oak Grove passed a resolution to opt out of using electronic poll and instead use paper poll books—a secure alternative used prior to 2018—the Anoka County Elections Department issued an unsigned letter indicating that any judges using paper poll books to check in voters would be criminally prosecuted.

Remember that other Minnesota counties either partially use paper or exclusively use paper as voter rosters on election day, which are on their face more secure than the electronic option, and §201.225 allows for opting out of electronic poll pads—the City of Oak Grove did so according to a 7-day termination clause in their agreement with Anoka County.

Secretary Simon's View

The Minnesota Secretary of State, Steve Simon, also weighs in on the letter, unconvincingly, providing three statutes which dance around the issue but fail to support the flimsy argument made in letter that the County Auditor can unilaterally dictate whether a city uses electronic poll pads based on her being the Head Election Official of the County (but ah-ha!... she is NOT the Head Election Official of the City, whose decision that would be under direction from the City Council, according to the same statute cited in the letter).

What is omitted and trumps that argument anyway is why there is a way to opt out of the electronic poll pads in statute at all if they are somehow mandated, as are the electronic tabulators.

Intimidation and Threats... Projection?

If electronic iPads to check in voters were so good, and paper so bad, why write a letter, unsigned, with such a tone?

The letter references intimidation and threats but readers of the letter may wonder if this is not simply a staggering amount of projection produced by panic... panic that the people are learning that the authorities within government are willing to ignore the laws they wrote, influenced, lobbied for, or pretend to be the sole interpreters of, when it is rather the people who are the ones beginning to hold not only themselves as citizens to account but also the roles and responsibilities of those various government positions, whether they be appointed or elected, and are taking notice of all actions, inactions, and spoken and omitted statements, especially when such words or deeds are out of bounds with regard to our sacred election process.

This writer has seen quite a variety of election interference but this letter is a new level. Just as the Anoka County Attorney Brad Johnson has stated he cannot turn a blind eye to election law that is not followed (by suggesting there will be serious legal trouble for election judges using paper to check in voters), We the People too cannot turn a blind eye on same, which is why we have shown up to government meetings these past four years, to see which of our public servants are doing their jobs, and which are not.

It is disappointing also that such election interference in this case should come from within our government including from a constitutional office (the MNSOS) whose role should be impartial and serve to educate election administrators instead of "clarify".

Readers are encouraged to have a look at the letter themselves (scroll back to top), to actually address the statutes in full, not just the cherry-picked subdivisions, and think about whether or not such a letter encourages participation as election judges and a broader, healthier discussion about what it might look like to have real elections again.

For additional background on Anoka, go to https://projectminnesota.com/anoka or simply search "Anoka" or "Oak Grove" on the site.

The Oak Grove Way is a nice introduction on same.