Election integrity faced challenges in Minnesota this election year, prompting a lawmaker to call for reforms, including implementing a voter ID law.
Timothy Michael Scouton, who served as the head election judge in the Badoura Township Precinct in northern Minnesota, is now facing two felony charges for allowing unregistered individuals to vote during this month’s election.
The Hubbard County Attorney’s Office has charged the 63-year-old Nevis, Minnesota, resident with one count of accepting the votes of unregistered individuals (11 total) and one count of neglect of duty, according to the criminal complaint.
Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave stated, per the Associated Press, that voter registration forms were not found among the ballots and materials submitted by Scouton.
“Another election judge told an investigator from the county sheriff’s office that Scouton directed them not to use the registration forms, the complaint said, while another said Scouton told them that new voters needed only to sign the back of a book,” the AP reported.
The election judge was arrested and appeared in court for the first time on Friday. His next hearing is scheduled for January 6, according to reports.
When contacted Sunday morning, Scouton told The Federalist that he would like to comment but has been advised against it.
Rave did not respond to a message left by The Federalist.
If found guilty on both charges, Scouton faces up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines.
Minnesota’s chief election official described the charges as “extremely serious.”
“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,” Secretary of State Steve Simon’s office said in a statement.
However, Simon, a progressive, has consistently opposed basic voter ID laws and election integrity measures implemented in 36 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. After the 2020 general election, which was marked by irregularities, Simon criticized a Republican-backed photo ID proposal, calling it “unnecessary.”
“This country has seen a tidal wave of disinformation about our democracy, about voting and about our last election,” Simon told the Senate elections committee at the time. “These are lies designed to manipulate and mislead people. So here is the truth: the truth is that the 2020 election was fundamentally fair, honest, accurate and secure. Period. State and federal courts around the country have examined and reexamined allegations to the contrary and found nothing — no material fraud or misconduct.”
That claim is incorrect. Fraud and election law violations did occur in the 2020 election, as they do in every election. For example, Abdihakim A. Essa, a Minneapolis resident, was accused in 2022 of intentionally falsifying certificates when submitting absentee ballots in Hennepin County, according to the Heritage Foundation’s election fraud database. Essa, a non-citizen, forged his father’s signature as a witness on the ballots. He pleaded guilty to four of the 13 charges, all state felony offenses, and was sentenced to 180 days in an adult correctional facility, with 90 days suspended pending the successful completion of two years of supervised probation. He was also ordered to pay $78 in court costs.
Minnesota state Rep. Krista Knudsen, R-Lake Shore, told Alpha News that the charges against Scouton underscore the need for a strong voter ID law. She called on Simon to collaborate with Republicans to implement election law reforms that address the recurring issues seen during this election cycle.
“I want to thank the Hubbard County Auditor for their work to catch this individual and for their vigilance in protecting the integrity of our election,” Knudsen told the publication.
The election-related misconduct charges further highlight ongoing election integrity concerns in Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’s strongly Democratic Minnesota.
“Ballot printing issues, results reporting malfunctions and errors, slow counting of ballots, missing ballots, and illegal voting all undermine confidence in the security of our elections,” Knudsen said. “The status quo is not working, and we need to take action next session to address these problems.”
The America First Policy Institute cautioned months before the election about Gov. Tim Walz’s ongoing attacks on election integrity. They highlighted five measures supported by the progressive governor that “fail to protect legal votes and legal voters.” These include automatic voter registration, a driver’s license law that adds noncitizens to the voter rolls, and Minnesota’s same-day registration law, which permits individuals with a license and proof of insurance to register on Election Day.
“There will not be enough time to vet if that person is actually eligible to vote before the election is certified, as has been pointed out before,” AFPI warned in an August press release.
