Minnesota Election Judge Arrested, Accused Of Accepting Ballots From Unregistered Voters
An election judge in Minnesota is facing felony charges after allegedly allowing people who were not properly registered to cast ballots in the 2024 election.
Timothy Michael Scouton, who served as the head election judge for the Badoura Township Precinct in Hubbard County, Minnesota, has been charged with one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered voter and one count of neglect of duty by an election official, according to a report from Fox 9 Minneapolis. Both of the charges are felonies.
Scouton reportedly attended basic election judge training before completing head election judge training in July, according to a criminal complaint from Hubbard County.
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Law enforcement stated that they were alerted to Scouton’s activities after an election auditor reported that 11 voters did not complete proper registration forms. The auditor told police that on November 7, she reached out to the head election judge, who was Scouton. She was then reportedly informed that he could not find the registration forms.
When the auditor was eventually able to locate the forms, Scouton allegedly told her that he and other election judges did not use them, the criminal complaint states.
The auditor then spoke with law enforcement again on November 13 and confirmed that 11 ballots had been cast by voters who did not fill out proper registration forms, which are used to verify their identities.
After that, investigators spoke with another election judge who worked with Scouton on election night. That judge reported Scouton instructed her to not use the Minnesota Voter Registration Application form, according to the criminal complaint.
The second judge further explained that Scouton’s son was also working as an election judge, and that he would have been responsible for registering applications because he was the first one to greet prospective voters when they entered the polling location.
Investigators also spoke with another judge who said he was unaware that the Minnesota Voter Registration Application forms were required or existed. The judge further alleged that Scouton only instructed new voters to sign the back of a book, the criminal complaint continues.
Scouton was arrested at the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office and declined to give a statement.
In response to Scouton’s arrest, the Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office described the allegations as “extremely serious” and called for a thorough investigation. “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. Minnesota’s elections rely on the dedication and public service of 30,000 people and they are required to conduct their work fairly, impartially, and within the letter of the law,” the statement reads.
“The Hubbard County Auditor took prompt and correct action in notifying local authorities of the uncovered discrepancies so they could investigate.”