Election/Election Integrity

County Attorney Claims 20 Ballots Likely Thrown Away In 15-Vote Margin Race

An in-person voting location in the 2022 election. (Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

An investigation into missing ballots in a tight Minnesota state House race found they were most likely thrown away and will not be recovered.

Following a recount, incumbent Democratic- Minnesota state Rep. Brad Tabke leads Republican Aaron Paul by just 15 votes, with officials saying they had records of 21 more people voting than ballots received, according to a Scott County, Minnesota, investigative report. Of the 21 ballots unaccounted for, 20 came from a single precinct, sparking an investigation that found the votes were likely thrown away and have already been shredded.

“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,” Scott County attorney Ron Hocevar wrote in a news release. “This unfortunate situation resulted in a level of confusion that should not have occurred.”

Following the report, Republican Minnesota House leader Lisa Demuth called for a new election, writing in a post on X that “with the missing ballots not expected to be recovered, a new election is the only way to restore confidence and guarantee that every voter has their vote counted.”

The Scott County race is crucial to the balance of power in the Minnesota House as a Tabke victory would leave the state Legislature in a 67 to 67 tie. State House Republicans plan to formally file their legal contest of the election Friday.

An election worker in Hennepin County, Minnesota, was fired in November after a local GOP group revealed the employee had left several boxes of mail-in ballots unattended.

Minnesota shifted rightward in November, with margins shrinking in most rural areas as well as the urban hubs of the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, President-elect Donald Trump managed to flip Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s home county of Blue Earth.