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Secretary of State confident about 2024 election security in MN
Steve Simon said his office is ready for the challenges of disinformation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, physical threats and voter intimidation.
ST PAUL, Minn. — Early voting in Minnesota’s Super Tuesday presidential primary begins Friday, and the state’s chief elections officer says his office is prepared to face the challenges of disinformation, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, physical threats and intimidation against poll workers.
“We have a combination of systems in place that almost no other state has to provide trustworthiness in our election results,” Secretary of State Steve Simon said at a news conference Thursday. He listed new election security laws, multiple layers of security for voting from home, public testing of the accuracy of voting machines, and a large corps of volunteer election judges from the major parties.
Super Tuesday, which takes place on March 5, is when 16 states conduct presidential primaries. Minnesotans can vote early in person at city and county election offices, or request mail-in absentee ballots to vote from home. Early voters have until Feb. 15 to claw back their ballots if they change their mind for any reason, such as their favorite candidate dropping out of the race. Arkansas, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Virginia and Vermont also start Super Tuesday voting in some capacity Friday or Saturday. Alabama began Jan. 10.
“There is no question that this election year will be among the most intense in history,” Simon told reporters. “The presidential candidates will likely inspire strong feelings. People will be passionate. And that’s OK. … We just want to make sure that it’s channeled in the right direction, in a positive direction, in a non-violent direction.”
Simon, a Democrat, said the “spread of disinformation about our current system” will likely be the biggest election challenge for 2024. While he said debate over how the voting system should operate is normal and welcome, the “deliberate spread of false information is a danger.” He encouraged voters to seek out reliable information from state and local election offices.
Artificial intelligence isn’t as much of a threat to election security as it is a way to “amplify existing threats like disinformation,” he said. He added that Minnesota is ahead of the curve because legislators last year provided criminal penalties for distributing deepfake images of a person without their consent within 90 days of an election if it’s done with the intent of influencing the election.
Bill Ekblad, the secretary’s election security chief, said he and Simon met with 50 county election teams last week for a tabletop exercise to help them respond to any security threats. No foreign adversaries are known to have tried cracking Minnesota’s election systems in 2020, he said. But 21 states were targeted in 2016. Ekblad named Russia as the country that was “rattling doorknobs” without getting in.
Minnesota has seen some instances of harassment, threats and intimidation against local election administrators, but almost none have been directed at the state’s 30,000 volunteer judges, Simon said. He added that a new law strengthens penalties for such acts.
Minnesota 16- and 17-year-olds have been able to preregister to vote since June, so those who have since turned 18 can vote in the presidential primary. So can convicted felons who have completed their prison sentences, under another new law.
This will be Minnesota’s second presidential primary in recent decades. While Minnesota doesn’t have party registration, voters will have to decide whether to vote in the Republican, Democratic or Legal Marijuana Now primary. While their names will still be reported to the party they choose, Simon said, it’s more private than it was in 2020, when all parties got to see who voted for which side. That information remains unavailable to the public.
“I am cautiously optimistic,” Simon said. “Our polling places overwhelmingly in Minnesota are oases of calm, I think, where people can vote in peace and have peace of mind when doing so.”
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KARE 11 News at Noon shared more on Thursday about the impact that this book will have.
Gary Peterson and his friends are collecting donations to help people in their community.
ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — A St. Louis Park pumpkin display is raising money for their local food shelf.
Gary Peterson started carving and painting three pumpkins over a decade ago. It’s now grown to over 100.
“I’ve heard people say they’ve come from Hutchinson,” he said.
Peterson along with two of his neighbors have spent the last 14 years growing their display, turning it into a neighborhood event.
“It’s been incredible, I just can’t believe how much this has expanded,” he said. “We did it just because we like to and then people were asking to give us money to cover the cost.”
The trio refused to take people’s money, but then one of them had an idea.
“My neighbor, Steve Leensvaart, just mentioned how about we just do it for the STEP program and the STEP program is our local food shelf in St. Louis Park,” he said.
So, they started to collect donations to help families in need. They’ve raised hundreds of dollars and donated hundreds of pounds of food over the last few years, carving for a cause.
“It is more gratifying every year,” Peterson said.
He estimated they have over 100 unique pumpkins in their yard. They’ve created the displays and come up with new family-friendly concepts for people to enjoy. Peterson said about 30 of their neighbors carved their own pumpkins to be put on display, and it’s been a big hit.
“It’s great. In the last couple of years, it’s turned into more of a neighborhood event,” said Sarah Durch.
“We love this Halloween display, we come every year to see it. We love that the whole community gets involved to craft and carve the pumpkins,” said Jami Gordon-Smith.
“The shading and the details are unbelievable,” said Elizabeth Hanson.
Hanson hopes to take her 2-year-old son trick or treating for the first time but is worried the cold temperatures might keep them indoors.
“We’re going trick or treating hopefully,” she said. “He’s going to be a firefighter, but we’re probably going to have sweatshirts maybe like two pairs of sweatpants underneath. We’re going to be bundled up.”
Gordon-Smith said her family will be out Halloween night no matter the weather.
“Halloween only comes once a year, so you really have to take advantage and enjoy the evening no matter what the weather brings,” she said. “Guess it’s not totally unheard of in Minnesota to have a cold Halloween, but we are going to try and modify and do a lot of layers underneath our costumes and then we might add some hats and maybe some warmer socks.”
Durch also isn’t surprised they’re in for another chilly night.
“Well, what would Halloween be without Minnesota cold? I feel like every time you plan a costume you have to plan for how you can make this work if it’s snowing,” she said.
Peterson said they will have a bonfire and some hot chocolate and cider on Halloween to keep trick-or-treaters warm while they look at their pumpkins.
Click here to learn where you can see the pumpkins and how you can donate.
Jeremy Jourdain was 17 when he was last seen on Halloween 2016.
BEMIDJI, Minn. — The search for Jeremy Jourdain, who was last seen on Halloween in 2016, continues now eight years later.
Jourdain was last seen at a family member’s house in Bemidji, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior Indian Affairs. He left the residence near the 500 block of Wood Avenue after midnight and while people followed him, no one was able to find him.
Jourdain was 17 at the time.
Officials said he was wearing a blue and grey sweatshirt, and blue jeans when last seen. He is Native American and is described as 6 foot 5 and 175 pounds.
If you have any information on his whereabouts, you can contact the Bemidji Police Department at (218) 333-9111. Tips can also be sent to 1-833-560-2065, or you can email ojs_mmu@bia.gov.
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