Record Attendance at Anoka County Certification Meeting
When was the last time the DOWN BALLOT elections (races) in Minnesota were audited?
No Comment from 5-Member County Canvassing Board About 7 Cities Asking for DOWN BALLOT Transparency across 17 Precincts through Legal, Statutory Hand Count
Today over 50 people from at least 7 counties attended the Anoka County Canvassing/Certification Board meeting, a record attendance for such a meeting. (45—47 of those pictured above, before a few more seats taken, some out of view.)
Lining the back, in clear view of the 5-member board throughout the meeting, were signs depicting the decisions from 7 city councils within the 21-municipality county. Out of 11 cities that received presentations, beginning in Oak Grove on January 29, 2024 from ACEIT, highlighted here by Liz Collin, 7 of those cities proceeded to vote for transparency and made this board aware of their proposals.
Advocates as well as city council members who passed these resolutions were interested to find out if the County would listen to, understand, and act upon these simple requests.
No Discussion. No Explanation.
When was the last time the DOWN BALLOT elections (races) in Minnesota were audited?
Would today be the day that changed?
In the first five minutes of the meeting the audience had their answer.
After the oaths and introductions, there was a motion to go from 4 to 8 precincts, quickly seconded and passed. No discussion. And no explanation.
Immediately, it appeared that the 5-member canvassing board in Anoka County had ignored the 7 city councils' requests for additional precincts AND hand counting of DOWN BALLOT races.
Surely one of the board members would share some reasoning behind this bump to 8 but not addressing the cities' requests? But none of the 5-member board spoke about the 7 city councils which passed resolutions for an additional 17 precincts, including requests for those DOWN BALLOT races, which don't usually get audited.
What should the people tell their neighbors when asked how the decision was made?
What should the city council members who voted for these resolutions, which were just denied, say to the people in their cities?
What does it say about the 5-member board, as well as those in support of them, that there wasn't a single clear explanation about a decision that impacts hundreds of thousands of voters in Anoka County? (And possibly more statewide, as will be unpacked in coming days.)
This is Part 1 in an unknown number of articles about just this meeting and the surrounding details. Stay tuned for the next chapter in these ongoing election mysteries.
