Scott County official says 20 absentee ballots in close House race were likely tossed

In an important development Wednesday in a key Minnesota House race, the Scott County Attorney’s Office disclosed that a set of absentee ballots that couldn’t be located during a post-election audit appear to have been mistakenly tossed in the trash and are unlikely to be retrieved.

The information comes in a House district where a DFL representative won reelection narrowly. The Minnesota House Republican Caucus has said it plans to challenge the result in court. 

Earlier this week, the Scott County Canvassing Board certified that DFL Rep. Brad Tabke won a House race in the district by 14 votes. His GOP opponent Aaron Paul argues the result is clouded and shouldn’t stand.

Scott County Attorney Ron Hocevar announced in preliminary investigation results that 20 absentee ballots from Shakopee were accepted in October but not counted. The ballots and their secrecy envelopes were likely thrown away accidentally between the time they were submitted and Election Day. And the ballots are unlikely to be recovered in a way that could prove they’d not been tampered with, Hocevar said.

“A request was made to the city for their secrecy envelopes, and the county was advised that they’ve been thrown in the garbage,” Hocevar wrote in a memo shared with the campaigns and with the public. “The county tracked the trash and recycling to a landfill in Burnsville and DemCon respectively, but learned that the recycle bale had already been sent for shredding.”

The investigation is ongoing. Hocevar added that the county can’t verify whether the ballots had been removed from their secrecy envelopes or were intact. But county staff has concluded the 20 ballots were probably not counted at all.

The Shakopee precinct where the mishap occurred voted strongly for Tabke in the certified tally. He won with almost 58 percent of the vote — or almost 200 votes in total.

Even if the 20 ballots could be located, Paul would need to win at least 75 percent of them to overtake Tabke's margin.

The formal filing of the House GOP election contest would touch off a court proceeding that leads to a range of possible remedies, up to a possible special election. A judge would have 15 days from the filing of the case to initiate a hearing, which eventually could include testimony and other trial-like activities.

House GOP Leader Lisa Demuth, of Cold Spring, said the findings should spur a special election in the district.

"With 20 ballots missing and confirmation from Scott County that they will likely not be recovered, it's impossible to declare a winner with a 14-vote margin,” Demuth said.

The court’s findings would ultimately be forwarded to the House for consideration. The House gets to determine its membership and any member who is the subject of a contest proceeding isn’t permitted to vote during the deliberations.

It’s not the first time that ballots have gone missing in a close Minnesota legislative race. In 2002, a set of 17 ballots were burned amid a recount in southern Minnesota. That case could be dusted off as the Scott County litigation moves ahead.

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