Felony charges: Hubbard County election judge allowed 11 unregistered voters to cast ballots

A Nevis, Minn., man serving as a head election judge is accused of allowing 11 unregistered voters to cast ballots on Election Day.

Timothy Scouton, 64, worked at a tiny precinct in a politically conservative Hubbard County township where he is accused of directing poll staff, including his son, to not have the unregistered voters fill out the correct form in order to legally vote, according to charges filed Friday in Hubbard County District Court.

Scouton faces two felony counts: One accuses the election judge of accepting the votes of unregistered voters, the other of neglect of duty. The charges are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said at a news conference in Minneapolis on Monday that “99.99 percent of election judges do the right thing. But you are going to have somebody do the wrong thing.”

“It was caught and detected. ... The system worked,” Simon said.

Attempts to reach Scouton were unsuccessful, and his son Andrew Scouton, who was also present as an election judge, declined to comment when contacted by the Minnesota Star Tribune on Saturday. “No comment. Do not attempt to contact me again. Thank you,” Andrew Scouton said in a message.

Andrew Scouton “would have been responsible for registration applications since he was sitting where persons entering would speak with him first,” according to the charges against his father.

Timothy Scouton’s public defender declined to comment when reached by phone Monday.

“I have no response at this time,” said public defender Kenneth Christie. “That may change within the next week or so.”

A majority of Badoura Township, population 150, voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election. Nearly 65% of voters in Hubbard County backed Trump.

Timothy Scouton’s Facebook page says he is a clerk for Badoura and Hiram townships. The page says he attended Park Rapids High School from 1975 to 1978, lists his hometown as Chandler, Ariz., and says he formerly served as treasurer for the East Hubbard County Fire Department.

The charges say that on Nov. 7, Hubbard County sheriff’s investigator Bill Schlag received a copy of an email sent from County Auditor Kay Rave to the late County Attorney Jonathan Frieden.

In the email, Rave stated that she learned 11 people had registered to vote in Badoura Township. Scouton had returned the ballots and other supplies, but Rave could not find any completed voter-registration forms. When asked, Scouton told Rave that they could not find the registration forms to use. After Rave located the forms, Scouton told Rave they did not use them.

Rave said in an email Monday to the Star Tribune that she cannot comment on the Scouton case. “However, I do hope to have a statement later this week,” she wrote.

In response to a list of questions, Rave said that the County Attorney’s Office forwarded her email to the sheriff’s office for investigation. She added that Scouton’s party affiliation is confidential.

”This is the first time in my 10 years that anything like this has happened,“ Rave said in the email.

On Nov. 13, Schlag met with Rave to confirm that voters should have completed the registration forms to verify their identities. It was also confirmed that Scouton completed election judge and head judge training on July 12.

Schlag asked two other election judges there that day who had directed them not to use the registration forms. One stated that if they had to guess, it would be Tim Scouton. An election judge said all they were told to do when a new voter showed up was to sign the back of “the book.” Schlag asked who told them to sign only the back of the book and they said Scouton.

Schlag met with Timothy Scouton at the sheriff’s office. Scouton declined to provide a statement. He was arrested but has since been released from the county jail. His next court appearance is Jan. 6.

The Secretary of State’s Office called the allegations “extremely serious” and said election judges take an oath to administer elections in accordance with the law.

“[A] deliberate failure to do so is unlawful and a betrayal of the public trust,” the office said.

“The Hubbard County auditor took prompt and correct action in notifying local authorities of the uncovered discrepancies so they could investigate.”

Tim Harlow contributed to this story.