A Minnesota election judge has been hit with felony charges for allegedly allowing several people who were not registered to vote to cast ballots in the 2024 election, officials said.
Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave could not locate any completed registration forms among the ballots she received from Badoura Township head election judge Timothy Michael Scouton, a criminal complaint obtained by NBC Chicago stated.
Scouton, 64, had been overseeing the election process in the small township of just about 100 people, which is about 170 miles northwest of Minneapolis.
Officials began investigating after receiving the complaint from Rave, and then another judge who worked with Scouton on election night told a Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office investigator that Scouton directed voters not to fill out the Minnesota Voter Registration Application, the complaint said.
Yet another election judge told investigators that he was not aware that the Minnesota Voter Registration Application forms even existed, and that Scouton told him that new voters were only supposed to sign the back of a book, according to the criminal complaint.
This incorrect statement allegedly led to 11 people voting illegally, officials said.
Investigators found out that Scouton’s son was also working as an election judge, and was supposed to be responsible for registering applications, FOX9 reported.
Scouton was arrested by the sheriff’s department last week and charged with one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered voter and one count of neglect of duty by an election official — both felonies.
Scouton “declined to provide a statement” upon his arrest, according to the complaint.
The arrested election judge reportedly finished his basic and head election judge training in July.
The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office said in a statement to FOX9 that the allegations are being taken seriously.
“These allegations are extremely serious and must be fully and thoroughly investigated. 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 said. “Minnesota’s elections rely on the dedication and public service of 30,000 people and they are required to conduct their work fairly, impartially, and within the letter of the law,” the statement continued. “The Hubbard County Auditor took prompt and correct action in notifying local authorities of the uncovered discrepancies so they could investigate.”