But Election Day itself was smooth in Minnesota, with no major confrontations reported. - Axios

1 year ago 37

Torey Van Oot

Illustration of an exclamation constituent   motion   contrasted with abstract ballot elements

Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios

Minnesota's apical predetermination authoritative says helium is not alert of immoderate specific, credible threats targeting the state's midterm elections, but section and authorities officials stay "on alert."

The large picture: The FBI and Homeland Security issued 2 warnings astir threats to predetermination workers and voter intimidation earlier this month.

  • The FBI singled retired states that experienced nationalist disputes, recounts and audits successful 2020, including Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Minnesota was not listed.

Threat level: Secretary of State Steve Simon tells Axios that portion "there is little wide hazard successful Minnesota than determination is successful different places," the FBI's informing "compels america to beryllium acceptable for those things wherever we can."

What they're doing: Earlier this year, the Secretary of State's bureau expanded the relation of its cyber information navigator, a erstwhile Naval serviceman who has worked successful intelligence, to besides absorption connected carnal predetermination security.

  • The goal, Simon said, is to "make definite that the radical administering elections are safe."

Zoom in: On the section level, predetermination workers astatine a fig of region and municipal offices person participated successful de-escalation oregon information grooming offered by a part of the Department of Homeland Security.

  • "We are surely keeping an oculus connected the nationalist somesthesia going into this midterm, which is evidently precise polarized," Christiaan Cartwright, the elections manager for the metropolis of Rochester, said.
  • Election workers successful Hennepin and Ramsey counties person besides been offered security-related training.

What they're saying: "The champion enactment is to conscionable perceive and marque radical consciousness heard," said Crow Wing County head Tim Houle, whose bureau and section authorities has been inundated with fraud claims from section activists. "Folks don't expect to get their mode each the time, but they expect to beryllium heard." 

Between the lines: Unlike different states, Minnesota instrumentality limits activities at and astir polling places — each large enactment is lone allowed 1 observer wrong oregon wrong 100 feet of a voting site.

  • Those rules whitethorn assistance forestall large conflicts oregon disruptions connected Election Day, Simon said.

Flashback: High hostility heading into the statesmanlike predetermination sparked concerns implicit voter intimidation and imaginable conflicts implicit masking rules.

  • But Election Day itself was creaseless successful Minnesota, with nary large problems reported.

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