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.
He was 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, according to a report from Fox 9.
Officials began investigating after Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave could not find any completed voter registration forms among the 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 Friday.
Another election judge told an investigator from the county sheriff’s office that Scouton directed them not to use the registration forms, the complaint said, while another said Scouton told them that new voters needed only to sign the back of a book.
He allegedly knew the voters had to fill out a registration form, but he told them not to. Judge Scouton was trained in July.
Authorities spoke with another judge who worked with Scouton on the night of the election, with the judge telling police that Scouton instructed her not to use the proper registration forms. Another judge working with Scouton told police that she was not aware of the proper forms and was instructed by Scouton to have voters sign the back of a book.
Scouton has not commented.
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