A group that has repeatedly challenged Minnesota’s elections process says several election judges — including three it is joining in a new lawsuit — are refusing to follow their duties at polling places because they disagree with how the state checks voters’ eligibility. The Minnesota Voters Alliance filed lawsuits last week in Hennepin, Ramsey and St. Louis counties with election officials from each area, contending that the secretary of state’s office is not doing enough to block ineligible voters, including felons, noncitizens and people considered wards of the state because of their developmental disabilities or other issues. The cases, which have been combined and will be heard by a Ramsey County judge on Friday, largely mirror a lawsuit the group filed earlier this year with the Minnesota Supreme Court. In that matter, the state’s highest court determined that it was not the proper jurisdiction to hear the case and sent it back to district court, where it has not yet been settled. In the meantime, with Election Day approaching, leaders of the Minnesota Voters Alliance decided to move forward with another lawsuit. Erick Kaardal, the attorney representing the group, said he received calls from election judges concerned about the potential for allowing felons to vote.
Records for registered voters who were convicted of a felony or are declared ineligible for other reasons are listed in state voting records with a “challenged” status. When those voters go to the polls, elections judges who believe the voters are ineligible are required to ask the voter a series of questions, while under oath, to determine the voter’s eligibility. If the voter fails to answer the questions correctly, they can’t vote. But if their answers indicates that they are eligible, the voter is given a ballot.
Ryan Furlong, a spokesman for Secretary of State Steve Simon, said his office does not comment on pending lawsuits, but that the law is clear: challenged voters can vote if they answer questions about their eligibility “in a way that indicates that they are eligible to vote.”
Full Article: Minn. failing to block ineligible voters, group says in suit – StarTribune.com.