The judge has been hit with two felony charges.
A man who served as a head election judge in a Minnesota township has been charged with two felony counts for allegedly letting 11 people vote even though they weren’t registered.
Officials began investigating after Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave could not find any completed voter registration forms among ballots and other materials returned by Timothy Michael Scouton, 64, of Nevis, who had been head election judge in the Badoura Township precinct, according to a criminal complaint filed on Nov. 15.
Another election judge told an investigator from the county sheriff’s office that Scouton directed them not to use the registration forms, according to the complaint, while another said Scouton told them that new voters needed only to sign the back of a book.
The investigator then met with Scouton at the sheriff’s office. Scouton was advised of his rights, declined to make a statement, and was then put under arrest, according to the complaint. The complaint did not detail a potential motive.
Badoura Township is just east of Park Rapids, Minnesota, or about 160 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Scouton made his initial court appearance on the same day that the complaint was filed and was released pending his next hearing, which is scheduled for Jan. 6, 2025.
Scouton did not respond to a request for comment, and his attorney declined to comment on the case.
Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon told reporters during a briefing on Nov. 18 that there are some 30,000 election judges in the state and that the overwhelming majority do their jobs well and legally.
“But you’re going to have—just based on the law of averages—someone who does a bad thing, who does the wrong thing, and fortunately this is an example of the resiliency and accuracy of the system because it was caught, it was detected,” Simon said. “It was determined that there were 11 people who weren’t properly registered, and so this is an example actually of the system working in the sense of it being detected. And this person, if the allegations are true, will be brought to justice—as he should be. This is a very serious crime.”
Simon’s office said in a written statement to news outlets that the charges are allegations and warrant 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,” the office stated.
The charges carry maximum penalties of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
State Rep. Krista Knudsen, a Republican, said in a statement released by the Minnesota House Republican Caucus that officials did well in catching Scouton.
“This is yet another reason we need voter ID and for Secretary of State Steve Simon to join Republicans in making election law changes that will put a stop to the numerous problems we’ve seen throughout this election cycle,” she said.
Knudsen pointed to some ballots not being counted for days and others going missing.
“The status quo is not working, and we need to take action next session to address these problems,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.