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The St. Francis City Council voted 4-1 to pass a resolution to expand the hand count audit of their local elections to include all precincts and all competitive races. They are now the 8th city (out of 21) so far in Anoka County, Minnesota to pass a resolution to expand the Post Election Review (PER). This is part of a nationwide trend as trust in our elections has dropped by 17-points from the 2024 presidential election says a recent survey from UC San Diego Center for Transparent and Trusted Elections. The post election review is currently the only way to verify election results in Minnesota besides an automatic recount.
Issues with Minnesota's Audit System
Under Minnesota law (Section 206.89), counties must conduct a post-election hand count audit on randomly selected precincts, but this happens after the election results are already certified. In 2024, the Anoka County Canvassing Board ignored requests from seven cities to audit 17 more precincts, only increasing audits from 4 to 8 out of 128 total precincts (approximately 0.47% sample size of total votes counted). Minnesota's audits are generally weak: primaries aren't audited at all, less than 1% of ballots are hand counted, and down-ballot races like city council positions have never been included in reviews.
Demand for Reform and Allowing Cities to Audit Their Elections
Despite the resolution in St. Francis, the final decision rests with the five-member Anoka County Canvassing Board, which has resisted similar requests in the past. State statutes actually allow for additional audits and down-ballot inclusions, raising questions about why they're being denied when cities have the resources. As more cities and communities push for increased audits, these non-partisan demands from the people should be honored. Thus county canvassing boards and the Secretary of State should not be blocking any of these efforts to make our elections more trusted and transparent.
