GOP petition claims Hennepin County incorrectly appointed election judges

The state Republican Party and conservative legal groups filed a petition with the Minnesota Supreme Court on Wednesday claiming that Hennepin County did not appoint partisan election judges in the right way.

The party and two conservative groups, the Upper Midwest Law Center and the Minnesota Voters Alliance, want to know how Hennepin County appointed election judges to its absentee ballot board this year. The board’s work includes making sure signatures on absentee ballots match signatures on voter registration cards and deciding if a ballot is spoiled or not.

The central question of the lawsuit, according to Andy Cilek, executive director of the Minnesota Voters Alliance, is whether county elections officials have to exhaust lists of potential election judges provided by the political parties before selecting others for the absentee ballot boards, which are required to have a balance of Republican and Democratic election judges.

“We want to understand how this occurred,” said Minnesota Republican Party Chair David Hann.

The suit alleges no one from a list of 1,500 election judges supplied by the state Republican Party to the Secretary of State’s Office was selected by Hennepin County. Hann said he did not know if any Republicans were selected to serve.

The lawsuit comes as conservative groups across the country are filing suits over issues such as vote tabulation machines and beliefs that names on voter rolls are invalid. Former President Donald Trump has also attacked the integrity of the 2024 election in his campaign speeches.

James Dickey of the Upper Midwest Law Center said the group has not scrutinized lists of election judges in other counties to make sure they included names provided by the state Republican Party. Dickey said his group is focusing on Hennepin County because it has the most voters, and the most potential to have an impact.

In a statement, Daniel Rogan, Hennepin County auditor, said absentee ballot board members were appointed in compliance with state law and guidance from the Secretary of State.

“We will respond to the specific arguments raised by the Minnesota Voter’s Alliance in our Supreme Court briefing,” Rogan’s statement said. “In general, Hennepin County appoints both deputy county auditors and party-balanced election judges to its absentee ballot board, consistent with state law.”

Secretary of State Steve Simon declined to comment on the specifics of the petition Wednesday, saying he had not yet read the 55-page legal filing.

The Minnesota Voters Alliance has made numerous challenges to state election law that have failed in the courts. This year, the group also unsuccessfully challenged the 2023 law restoring voting rights to people convicted of felonies upon their release from incarceration. Minnesota courts also this year threw out the group’s challenge to a law that bars intentionally spreading misinformation about voting with the intent to keep people away from the polls.