Three weeks after the election, miraculously the Democrat in a Minnesota race pulled ahead of the Republican by 14 votes. An investigation revealed the disqualification of 21 votes. Why does this only occur for Democrats and never for Republicans? I think we all know the answer to that. And why does it take so long to count votes? In France, the entire country uses paper ballots and must hand count every vote, yet their votes are all counted on election night.
The City of Shakopee conducted early voting from September 20 through November 4, 2024. The City of Shakopee used two voting methods during this period:
- Envelope Voting: Voters submitted their ballots in security and signature envelopes.
- Direct Ballot Voting: From October 18 onwards, voters could scan their ballots directly.
Discrepancies appeared on election night when Scott County staff identified a 21-ballot discrepancy across two precincts. P10 showed that 329 voters checked in but allegedly only received 309 votes. One other precinct was short 1 vote. That may only be a total of 21, but in a race with a difference of 14 votes, it is more than enough to change the outcome. Two facts that came out during the investigation are that the voting envelopes were never opened and that there is almost zero chance of recovering the ballots.
During the early absentee ballot processing in Shakopee, County Attorney Ron Hocevar acknowledged that “human error” likely led to the ballots’ discard:
“The preliminary investigation into the 21-ballot discrepancy hasn’t been determinative thus far, and it appears likely to be the result of human error that occurred during the collection of early absentee ballots at the City of Shakopee. This unfortunate situation resulted in a level of confusion that should not have occurred.”
“In the interest of full transparency, we have included a link to the information provided to the attorneys for both candidates this morning. It’s important to note that the investigation is ongoing and we hope that more information will be forthcoming.”
VISIT OUR YOUTUBE CHANNELKey Findings from the Investigation:
- That 20 absentee ballots in P10 were properly accepted for counting on October 17 and should have been counted;
- That these ballots are the ballots that were not counted;
- That the ballots were most likely were never removed from their secrecy envelopes;
- That the ballots were likely in their secrecy envelopes when the secrecy envelopes were thrown away;
- That the ballots most likely will not be recovered; and
- That even if 20 ballots were found, it is unlikely that their chain of custody can be proven to assure they have not been tampered with.
Despite efforts to recover the envelopes from recycling and landfill facilities, the materials might have been already destroyed.
“A request was made to the City for their secrecy envelopes, and the County was advised they had been thrown into the garbage. The County tracked the trash and recycling to a landfill in Burnsville and DemCon respectively, but learned that the recycle bale had already been sent for shredding,” according to the preliminary report.
“Today’s news confirms why we will be seeking an election contest to protect the integrity of the vote in District 54A with a new election,” House Republican Speaker-designate Lisa Demuth (R-Cold Spring) said.
“With 20 ballots missing and confirmation from Scott County that they will likely not be recovered, it’s impossible to declare a winner with a 14-vote margin. We appreciate the efforts by Scott County to investigate this matter and be transparent about their findings.”
