Election Snafu: Incorrect Ballots Sent to Southeast Minnesota Voters
Zumbro Falls, MN (KROC-AM News)- Some voters in southeast Minnesota have received incorrect ballots.
See Also: Early Voting Underway in Minnesota
Early voting in Minnesota for November’s General Election got underway on Friday. Voters can vote absentee by mail or in person and direct early voting is scheduled to start next month.
The early voting so far has been marred by two different ballot errors. Last week, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office confirmed ballots incorrectly identifying the candidate's party in a state house race in southern Minnesota’s Faribault County were sent to voters.
A statement from the Secretary of State's Office says they were made aware of the error on Friday. A second ballot misprint was reported on Tuesday in Wabasha County.
Ballots With Wrong State House Race Sent to Voters in Wabasha County
Voters in the precinct in Zumbro Falls, which falls under State House District 20B, were sent ballots that had the candidates running in the State House District 20A race, according to Wabasha County Administrator Michael Plante.
Plante tells KROC News that the county is working to learn how many misprinted ballots were sent out. The wrong ballot is still posted on the sample ballot page on the Secretary of State's website as of Wednesday morning.
He says the county will petition the Minnesota Supreme Court to correct the error and that the candidates running for the 20B race, Republican Rep. Steve Jacob and DFL candidate Michael Hutchinson, will also be served with the petition.
The county will then issue new corrected ballots to the Zumbro Falls precinct and voters will be given notice that they will receive new ballots once the petitioning process is completed, Plante says.
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Wabasha County also plans to work with the Secretary of State’s Office to ensure any of the incorrect ballots that have been completed and returned are spoiled.
Plante says each ballot is identified by a unique number. So far no mail in ballots have been received by the county from the Zumbro Falls precinct and Plante says no other irregularities have been reported elsewhere in Wabasha County.
He says a timeline for the correction is not yet known. KROC News also contacted the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office and has not yet received a comment.
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