Comments on: Challengers ejected from Dinkytown polling place that lost ballots in ’08

By: Joe Anonymous

Joe Anonymous — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:06:52 +0000

Challengers cannot directly challenge voters, read the state statutes and election rules. They can only challenge by direct knowlege of the voter and then only to the election judges in a written form. If you are bothered by a challenger, talk to the election judges and your political party HQ.

By: Charles

Charles — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:23:15 +0000

Todd, that challenger went WAY beyond and should have been asked to leave the polling place.

again from the Election Judge Guide: “The law limits what challengers may do to question the eligibility of specific voters. Challengers must fill out a form and swear that, based upon personal knowledge they know that the voter is not an eligible voter.”

I hope that next year if this happens again you can ask the Chair Judge to enforce the law regarding this type of behavior.

By: Todd Dugdale

Todd Dugdale — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 21:46:07 +0000

I experienced ridiculous intimidation from a challenger in Plymouth last November. By the time I decided to simply ignore her and move along to get my ballot, I had presented the following documentation:
U.S. Passport, MN Drivers License, current utility bill, and my voter registration postcard. She was adamant that I produce my SS card, which I no longer have. The SS card is to prove citizenship, but the U.S. Passport documents that. I have been registered at my address for over 15 years, and never have had to do anything more than provide my name.

When I complained to the election judge, I was told that I “look like a Democrat”, and that particular challenger “does that kind of thing”.

By: Charles

Charles — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 23:16:37 +0000

On the Secretary of State’s site there is the Election Judge Guide (http://www.sos.state.mn.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5060) that defines what a Challenger may do.

What the Challenger is there to do is “question the eligibility of specific voters”. It doesn’t say anything about challenging the election judge…

(Full disclosure – I’m an election judge too).

By: Mill

Mill — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:24:24 +0000

If a “challenger” asks me about my voter registration status, may i ignore that questioner and simply proceed to the voter registration table at my polling place?

By: Gary Lee

Gary Lee — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:21:53 +0000

One problem with elections is that you cannot fix a problem after the fact. If you don’t get it right on election day then it is almost impossible to fix. Election judge volunteers do a great service, are trained in election procedures, and provide their own check between themselves. However, they are not infallible. There is a need for a way to question an election judge’s decision on election day when a higher level official or supervisor could resolve questions in time that people could still vote if they are eleigible. Most likely there is some statue in place to do this. The question is then, is the election system set up to actually implement those rules, and are they fairly implemented in every precinct, or are some voters just out of luck?

By: Chris David

Chris David — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:11:37 +0000

At my polling place, some of the same judges have been working there for years; in fact, yesterday, one recognized me and said, “how have you been doing since last year?”

My point is that it’s likely that the judges at this place are some of the same folks who presided over the missing ballots election and so we need to go after these judges and either fire or transfer them to other locations where they can be monitored.

Also, candidates need to work not only to get out the vote, but to educate voters prior too election day as to what they must bring to the polls. But if Hofstede had her way, they’d instead have to worry about a ticket for their porch couch.