Just in: MN GOP Sues Over Election Judges

[scarletwoman]

Heard this on the noon news broadcast today (Fri. 10/15)

http://wcco.com/localnews/local_story_289121607.html

Oct 15, 2004 11:10 am US/Central
St. Paul (AP) Minnesota Republicans prepared a lawsuit Friday over election judges in three counties, saying their research showed Democratic-affiliated judges had a stronger presence than state law allows.

The lawsuit was to be filed in the Minnesota Supreme Court later in the day. It demands that auditors in Hennepin, Olmsted and Ramsey counties turn over information that would help identify the political allegiance of election judges and ensure no party has more than 50 percent representation in any precinct.

"We have found that in some cases in the state there is not balance after doing our own research about partisan issues with particular election judges," said Mindy Tucker-Fletcher, a senior adviser for Victory 2004, a coalition of Republican state parties.

In Minneapolis, for instance, the Republican Party said its count included 335 Republican judges and 658 Democratic judges.

(There's only a few sentences more to the story at the link, but I'm abiding by the DU 4 paragraphs rule. Please go to the link and read the rest.)

Now, being an election judge myself, this brings up a number of questions. First of all, what sort of "research" was the GOP doing? The process for selecting election judges is very strictly laid out in Minnesota law. You apply for being a judge at your precinct caucus -- and BOTH parties caucus on the same date.

The county auditor then collects the applications and instructs the precinct/township clerks to contact the applicants and verify their intent to serve and return those names to the county auditor.

The Minnesota Secretary of State Office then conducts election judge training classes throughout the state in the month of August, in time for the judges to serve on the Primary election day.

By law, the party affiliations of the judges for each precinct are SUPPOSED to be 50/50, but also by law, the county elections boards HAVE to allow all applicants sent to them by the two parties the opportunity to serve.

So where in this process did the Republicans miss out? Were there fewer applicants from the Republican caucuses than there were from the DFL caucuses? If this were so, then why would they NOT have known this back in March?

I mean, suddenly, a little over 2 weeks before the election -- and a month and a half AFTER the primary election -- they "discover" that their party doesn't have enough election judges in place?

This sure smells like bullshit to me. Not to mention, just one more Republican attempt to screw with the election process. Will our own Katherine Harris, GOP Sec. of State Mary Kiffmeyer let them get away with it? (rhetorical question, of course)

Can't wait to see how this one plays out. No matter what, I WILL be in place at my little precinct polling station in the boonies on November 2.

sw

[Nobody]

1. It's a self-selecting sample

And interestingly enough, at my DFL caucus last March, the caucus chair was asking us to get our Republican friends to sign up for election judging.

Whiners.