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Unattended ballots in Edina weren’t tampered with or altered
Hennepin County’s top elections administrator says the delivery contractor fired the courier who left ballots unguarded.
MINNEAPOLIS — Hennepin County elections officials Monday confirmed that the absentee ballots left unattended for nearly seven minutes last week were all accounted for and had not been altered or tampered with in any other way. No ballots were removed from the shipment or added to it.
Ginny Gelms, who heads Hennepin County’s Elections Office, told reporters the incident is still very disturbing all the same because it goes against the training third-party couriers are supposed to receive when it comes to moving ballot transfer boxes from the early voting sites to the county’s main elections center.
“When something like this happens, obviously, we hate it! It is not up to our standards, and it is not acceptable. And that’s why we take immediate corrective action when something like this happens,” Gelms told reporters in an online press conference Monday.
“When we reached out to the courier, they were very responsive to us. They completely understood and shared our dismay at this happening. And they assured us that they have terminated the driver in question and are reiterating and retraining all of their drivers on all of the security protocols we expect of our couriers.”
When you vote early in person in Minnesota, you’re casting an absentee ballot. Eventually, a pair of bipartisan election judges will decide first whether to accept the ballot based on whether the paperwork is filled out correctly.
If it’s accepted, other bipartisan judges will open the ballots to prepare them to be stored until they can be counted on Election Day. Each voter’s ballot envelope is tracked along the way through the Statewide Voter Registration System (SVRS).
That SVRS allows voters to track the status of their absentee ballots on the Secretary of State’s website. It also ensures that a person can’t vote both absentee and on Election Day. And it enables elections administrators to verify the ballots couriers pick up from cities are the same ones they deliver to the county.
“Whether that person is submitting an in-person absentee ballot in Edina, or in Hopkins, or in Bloomington, or in Minneapolis, all that information goes into the same system,” Gelms explained.
“And we have access to that, we can see how many ballots have been issued. We can see who’s been issued those ballots. We can see where those ballots are at every step in the process.”
That’s why Gelms can state with certainty that the ballots left unattended last Friday outside Edina City hall weren’t tampered with at any point along the journey.
“And that’s part of our regular everyday process. We do that with every single batch of ballots, not just when an incident occurs. We do that every single day. And we know there has been no tampering with any ballot. Zero!”
Edina City Hall surveillance video shows that a courier working for Smart Delivery Services left his delivery van’s back hatch open for nearly seven minutes in the parking lot Friday while he was inside city hall picking up more early absentee ballots.
At one point a bystander can be seen stopping and peering into the unattended, open van before walking away. It’s likely that’s the same person who took the photo that was posted to X by the District 50 Republicans account later that day, and was amplified through social media and published reports.
Smart Delivery Services didn’t respond Monday to calls and email messages from KARE, but Gelms said the company told her the errant courier was fired. His co-workers are being retrained on the protocol, including the fact that ballots can’t be left unattended in an unlocked vehicle.
“When I reached out to courier service they completely understood. They know this is unacceptable. And this is NOT how they train their drivers to deal with these materials. This is not what we expect in our contract with them.”
To be clear, an absentee ballot goes into a secrecy envelope, which goes into the signature envelope, which goes into the ballot transfer box that is sealed before it can be transported. Election judges and staff know who voted, but don’t know how they voted.
There’s also a strict chain of custody protocol. Local elections staff fill out a chain of custody form that shows many ballots and ballot boxes are left at their location, so it can be double-checked when the courier finishes the route at the county’s central office in Minneapolis.
“Yes, mistakes can happen, so we have many fail-safes along the way so that when a human error does crop up people can still have trust in the process. We received every single ballot that we were supposed to, and we didn’t receive any ballots that we weren’t supposed to.”
Ginny Gelms said the reason Hennepin County uses a third-party contractor is the sheer volume of early absentee ballots coming in from all the cities that have early voting centers. She said they could eliminate the need for couriers if they only allowed early absentee voting at the Government Center in downtown Minneapolis, but that would make voting less convenient.
The county has been working with Smart Delivery for three years without any problems, and for the time being, will remain with that company. KARE’s calls and emails to Smart Delivery went unanswered on Monday.
Secretary of State Steve Simon called what happened in Edina “unacceptable” but is happy to hear the system worked.
“This incident was totally unacceptable,” Simon wrote in a statement to the media on Monday. “The county has taken appropriate, swift, and transparent action to determine that no ballots were compromised and to ensure this will not happen again.”
Simon said his office has issued a bulletin reminding elections administrators across the state reminding them of ballot custody procedures.
“This is a teachable moment for everyone involved in administering our elections. To that end, our office has lent support to the county in their response to this incident and will continue to be available to support them and all other localities conducting elections.”
During Monday’s news conference, a reporter for Alpha News asked why some ballot transfer boxes were sealed with red security seals while others had blue seals, implying the ballots had been sorted by party.
Again, the ballots were still sealed inside two envelopes so nobody could know how a particular voter voted. Minnesota voters don’t register by party.
Gelms said each city decides on its own what colors of seals to place on their ballot transfer boxes. She said some cities use colored plastic zip seals, while others use tape and paper seals. In other words, nothing should be read into what color tie is used to seal a box.
When asked why absentee ballots aren’t escorted by election judges, Gelms said most judges volunteer to serve for one day during an election cycle. She noted the early voting window runs for 46 days before each election, which makes it difficult to find election judges to fulfill that the task of moving tens of thousands of ballots over that time period.
STEP Academy’s superintendent did not attend the school board meeting as debate over finances continues.
ST PAUL, Minn — There was chaos and confusion Monday night at a St. Paul charter school board meeting as it discussed its financial crisis.
STEP Academy is on the brink of shutting down as its finance director announced it’s now exponentially further in debt.
On top of that, two board members resigned at the meeting, including Rahima Ahmed and Abdulrazzaq Mursal.
That board also, unexpectedly, appointed five new members. They then called for a special session for Thursday, leaving some people confused and angry – including teachers, none of whom would go on camera.
STEP Academy’s latest board meeting showed it had 117 fewer students enrolled than planned, leading to them being $775,000 over budget. In efforts to cut costs, teachers and other staff have been let go.
STEP Academy serves a significant part of the Somali community in the Capital City and works to reach students who are underserved by traditional schools and underrepresented in STEM fields. Superintendent Mustafa Ibrahim is accused of improper management practices and the nonprofit overseeing the school for the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE), Innovative Quality Schools (IQS) says the school is in financial crisis.
Sources had told KARE 11 Ibrahim was expected to resign, but it’s unclear if that happened. He wasn’t at Monday’s meeting, but his supporters call his leader “excellent”.
Other parents are concerned about the future.
“With this nightmare that’s happening, I want to know one thing, what are we going to do as a community,” said Aliyo Jama, whose children attend STEP Academy.
Some parents are also critical of IQS, accusing it of racial bias. Every one of the state’s 180 charter schools is overseen by an authorizer like IQS. In a statement, IQS says it oversees 30 charter schools and that it exists to “safeguard quality educational opportunities for students and maintain public trust and confidence.”
Its chair, Steve Kelley, also maintains that any claims of racial bias are unfounded, writing, “IQS and its leadership team have acted professionally and impartially. I am optimistic that as the STEP Academy board carries out the letter and spirit of its agreements with their authorizer, the school will continue to independently provide its academic program that is both responsive to and highly valued by its students and families.”
IQS has confirmed to KARE 11 in past reporting that STEP Academy is in this position, in part, to its newest campus in Burnsville. And that it overestimated its enrollment projections and spent too much on renovations.
At Monday’s meeting, STEP Academy’s finance director said the operating budget deficit has now more than doubled to $2.1 million.
The school is proposing a new budget to try and fill the financial hole. It includes $325,000 in reductions at the St. Paul campus, $225,000 in cuts at the academy’s Burnsville site and a $225,000 reduction in operations/office staffing.
STEP is also working to add $600,000 from renegotiating building leases at both locations and its transportation contract.
If STEP Academy closes, MDE data shows it would be the 11th charter school to close this year – the most in several years.
Charter school enrollment has been growing. According to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, charter school enrollment increased by 9% from 2019-20 to 2022-23, adding over 300,000 students.
Marathoners run 26.2 miles with canoes on their shoulders.
ELY, Minn. — Editor’s note: This story originally aired in October of 2018.
At this year’s Ely Marathon, both male and female runners set records in the canoe portaging division. Drew Boysen of Iowa City, Iowa set a record in the men’s division with a time of 4:11:01, shaving roughly 20 minutes off the old record.
Victoria Ranua of Shakopee shattered the women’s record, finishing with a time of 5:25:34. Ranua’s time beat the old record by roughly 90 minutes. Boysen and Ranua each received $5,000 for their record-setting performances.
A community where canoes are king now has its crowning achievement.
Dan Drehmel shouldered a canoe more than 26 miles to win Ely’s first official canoe portaging marathon.
“The truest Minnesotan thing you can think of is to carry a canoe for a whole marathon,” spectator Ashley Sinclair said shortly before Drehmel crossed the finish line.
Drehmel finished the race — carrying his 35-pound canoe — with a time of 5:23:48.
A friend suggested he could probably do it again.
“No, no, I’m done,” Drehmel said with a laugh, minutes after his finish. “Ready to be done till next year.”
This year’s Ely Marathon was the first to offer a full marathon canoe portaging division. A half marathon portaging division was added last year.
“We just had some crazy locals who asked if they could portage a canoe,” race director Wendy Lindsay said. “So, here we are, we’re starting a fad.”
A dozen runners started the full and half marathons held last weekend in Ely. Four managed to finish the full marathon, while four more finished the half.
Drehmel — who works as a guide in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area — said he wanted to attempt the portaging marathon “just to see if it’s possible.”
Two years ago, Drehmel and his girlfriend Abby Dare took turns portaging a canoe in the full marathon but did so unofficially.
LyneAnne Vesper, who also does BWCA guide work, was similarly inspired. She ran the 2016 half marathon with a canoe after gaining approval from Lindsay.
“It was really a personal challenge at the time,” Vesper said.
Drehmel and Vesper both say they were inspired by Ely Marathon’s branding. The race markets itself as the 8,390-rod portage.
Taking their cues from Drehmel and Vesper, race officials added a portaging half marathon last year, and the full portaging marathon this year.
“Some of the racers last year who did the half didn’t think it was challenging enough,” Lindsay said.
Dana Gilbertson was the top finishing female portager, coming in second in the half marathon.
Reminded she was running one of America’s most scenic marathons, Gilbertson laughed.
“I haven’t seen a bit of it,” she said. “Just the front of a canoe.”
The invasive species looks similar to a ladybug, but they come with a mean streak.
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. — You went outside, felt how beautiful it was, and said to yourself, “This is the perfect weekend to set up those Halloween decorations.” You start to get some stuff up, and then you feel a little bite.
You might have come face to face with an Asian Lady Beetle! They make look like a ladybug, however, Asian Lady Beetles can be slightly larger and come in various shades of red and orange. Another way to tell the two apart is by looking at the bug’s head. The Asian Lady Beetles have a noticeable “M” marking near its shell.
“They’re bad because there’s so many of them and they’re invasive,” Ric Arguello, an exterminator at Babes Termites and Pest Control said. “In the fall, they get into people’s homes and businesses and everything.”
Around this time of the year, the business’ line is ringing off the hook. Many customers are asking why they’re seeing so many of the insects.
“Over in Asia, where [the beetles] came from, they would overwinter on mountainside,” Arguello said. “Well, we don’t have any]. We got a lot of houses, so they find that warmth. [They] just find a crack to get in, and then wait it out until spring hits.”
So these bugs are staying for months and not paying rent? They’d go down in history as some of the worst house guests ever. But Arguello says you shouldn’t have an issue getting rid of these pests.
“A lot of people use like a soapy water solution on the outside of their house,” Arguello added. “That’ll kill them. [You can also vacuum] them up or you could hire someone like us to put a residual down.”
An Asian Lady Beetle can live anywhere between 30 and 90 days, though most are expected to die off when we start to have a consistent freeze.
