Minnesota Election Official Faces Felony Charges

Election integrity took a bit of a beating in Democrat vice presidential candidate Tim Walz’s Minnesota this election year, prompting one lawmaker to call for reforms — beginning with enacting a voter ID law. 

Timothy Michael Scouton, who served as the head election judge in northern Minnesota’s Badoura Township Precinct, now faces two felony charges for allowing unregistered individuals to vote in this month’s election. 

The Hubbard County Attorney’s office has charged the 63-year-old Nevis, Minn., man with one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered person (11 in all) and another count of neglect of duty, according to the criminal complaint. 

Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave, according to the Associated Press, could not find voter registration forms “among the ballots and other materials” Scouton turned in. 

“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 made his initial court appearance on Friday. His next hearing is slated for Jan. 6, according to reports. 

Reached Sunday morning, Scouton told The Federalist that while he would like to comment he has been advised not to. 

Rave did not return a message left by The Federalist. 

If convicted on both charges, Scouton could face up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 in fines. 

‘Deliberate Failure’

Minnesota’s top election official called the charges “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.

But the leftist Simon has long opposed basic voter identification laws, election integrity checks in place in 36 states, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Following the irregularity-plagued 2020 general election, Simon blasted a Republican-led photo ID measure as “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’s not true. There definitely was fraud and other election law violations in the 2020 election, as there is in every election. Case in point, Abdihakim A. Essa. The Minneapolis man in 2022 “was accused of intentionally making or signing false 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 thirteen counts, all state felony offenses. He was sentenced to 180 days in an adult correctional facility; all but 90 days of this sentence was stayed pending successful completion of 2 years of supervised probation. He was also assessed $78 in court costs.”

‘The Status Quo is Not Working’ 

Minnesota state Rep. Krista Knudsen, R-Lake Shore, told Alpha News that the charges against Scouton appear to be another example of the need for a strong voter ID law. She urged Simon to work with Republicans “in making election law changes that will put a stop to the numerous problems we’ve seen throughout 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 just add to the election integrity problems in Democrat Gov. Tim Walz’ deep blue 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 American First Policy Institute warned of Walz’s constant assault on election integrity months before the election, noting five measures the leftist governor supports that “fail to protect legal votes and legal voters.” Among them, automatic voter registration and a driver’s license law that puts noncitizens on the state’s voter rolls. And Minnesota’s same-day registration law allows anyone with a license and proof of insurance to register on the day of the election. 

“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.

For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.

Matt Kittle is a senior elections correspondent for The Federalist. An award-winning investigative reporter and 30-year veteran of print, broadcast, and online journalism, Kittle previously served as the executive director of Empower Wisconsin.