Minnesota Election Judge Charged Over Unregistered Votes

A head election judge serving in a Minnesota township has been charged with two felony counts for allegedly letting 11 people vote without being registered.

Timothy Michael Scouton, 64, faces with one count of neglect of duty by an election official and one count of accepting the vote of an unregistered voter, KSTP reported.

According to a criminal complaint filed Friday, officials started to investigate after Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave wasn't able to find any completed voter registration forms among the ballots and other materials that were returned by Scouton, who had acted as head election judge in the Badoura Township precinct on election night.

Scouton allegedly told Rave election workers could not find the registration forms to use. After she found the forms, he said they didn't use them.

In July, Scouton completed basic election judge training and head judge training, according to court records.

On Nov. 7, authorities were notified that 11 people had voted without being registered to vote.

Afterward, an investigator talked to several other Badoura Township election judges who worked on Election Day. They said they were told by Scouton not to use the voter registration forms.

According to one of the judges, Scouton's son, who was the first person voters saw upon entering, was responsible for the registration applications.

An investigator then met with Scouton at the sheriff's office, where he was advised of his rights, but declined to make a statement. He was then put under arrest, according to the complaint.

Scouton made his initial court appearance on Friday and was then released pending his next hearing, which will take place in January.

"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 of Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said in a statement.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.