The primary for the special election to fill the 1st Congressional District seat that was vacated when Congressman Jim Hagedorn passed away, is set for next month and Rice County has been working diligently to prepare for the process.
Due to the increased concern regarding election transparency, particularly regarding absentee ballots, the County Board of Commissioners has taken steps to increase visibility of the work done by the Absentee Ballot Board.
Last month the Commissioners approved measures that will include the hiring of partisan election judges and the installation of a camera in the Elections Department conference room so members of the public can watch a live video feed as elections workers receive, process, and accept the ballots.
A group of local voters and the Upper Midwest Law Center objected to wording in the measure. A letter sent to the Board of Commissioners and County Officials dated March 31st took issue with who will be acting as election judges and threatened a lawsuit over the matter. While the County measure provides for “election judges and/or staff from the Property Tax & Elections Department,” to process the ballots, the group pointed to a recent State Supreme Court decision requiring “counties to include a sufficient number of election judges, who are party balanced” on the Absentee Board. The decision said that boards must consist of a balanced group of partisan election judges consisting of representatives from each of Minnesota’s four major parties, Republican, DFL, Grassroots Legalize Cannabis, and Legal Marijuana Now.
Rice County Attorney John Fossum said the county has resolved the matter through conversation and explicit definition of terms. The County will seek to hire members of each party to act as election judges, who are called upon to determine the validity of a ballot in the event that there is a discrepancy.
The challenge will be finding enough members of each party to fill the number of judges needed. Fossum said that all options for filling the seats with partisan members will be exhausted but hiring could also be supplemented by employees of the County Elections Office.
Fossum said because of the added need to fill the 1st District Seat, the election processes this year will be more complicated and longer lasting than in a normal election year.
“Our election stretches out for weeks. And the ballot for this special primary election for the First Congressional District started being mailed out last Friday. They can start being reviewed for accuracy and whether or not they’re accepted [right away.] We’re moving forward with all of that. It’s a complex process and there’s a lot going on. Basically, we’re in election mode from now until November.”
The primary for the special election is May 24th, and the special election itself will be August 9th.
