Voters in New Hope and Zumbro Falls received incorrect ballots for House races

Several Minnesota communities are dealing with misprinted ballots after early voting opened Friday for the Nov. 5 election.

Hennepin County voters in House District 43A received absentee ballots with the incorrect middle initial for Rep. Cedrick Frazier, a DFLer, who is running for re-election against Republican challenger Todd Hesemann. Some ballots have Frazier’s middle initial as “B” when it should be listed as “R.”

When ballots are misprinted, the Minnesota Supreme Court has to sign off on whatever fix state and local officials propose. In Frazier’s case, the Secretary of State’s office plans to count the ballots with the incorrect initial normally.

“Every year stuff like this pops up and every year there are procedures in place to correct it,” said Peter Bartz-Gallagher, communications director for Secretary of State Steve Simon.

On Wednesday evening, Hennepin County election officials acknowledged 28 of the 55,000 absentee ballots they recently sent out were missing the ovals voters fill in, due to a printing error. Elections officials say voters can ask for a new ballot, mark their existing ballot in an obvious way or vote in person at an early voting location or on Election Day.

In March, the Hennepin County Board approved a $1.6 million, five-year contract with BlueCrest to automate absentee ballot mailing. County officials send out more than 100,000 ballots during the general election to residents who vote absentee.

On Tuesday, Wabasha County officials said voters in Zumbro Falls received mail-in ballots with the District 20A House candidates when they should be voting in the District 20B race.

Michael Plante, Wabasha County administrator, said county officials will issue corrected ballots to the affected precinct after the state Supreme Court signs off. Ballots with the errors will be “spoiled” and will not be used in the election.

“Wabasha County understands that public trust in the election process is vital and we are working to address this issue as quickly as possible,” Plante said in a statement.

Rep. Steve Jacob, R-Altura, represents District 20B which includes Zumbro Falls. He is running for re-election against DFLer Michael Hutchinson. Rep. Pam Altendorf, R-Red Wing, represents District 20A and is running for re-election against Democrat Heather Arndt.

“These errors are unacceptable and need to be quickly resolved by the Secretary of State and the County to ensure voters in Zumbro Falls aren’t disenfranchised,” Jacob and Altendorf said in a statement.

Zumbro Falls has 155 residents, according to the U.S. Census, who vote entirely by mail. It is unclear how long it will take to correct the ballots.

Last week, voters in Faribault County House District 23A received ballots that switched the political affiliation for Rep. Peggy Bennett, a Republican, and DFL challenger Joe Staloch.

That error affected only 17 ballots issued by Faribault County, Simon’s office said in a statement Sept. 20. Ballots for the District 23A race from Freeborn, Steele and Waseca counties are accurate.

The statement noted that Minnesota’s 87 counties prepare their ballots after they receive a certified list of candidate names and party affiliations from the Secretary of State.