The MN Bidoncino - October 21, 2022
A weekly recap of Minnesota's compost bin of election issues and some seeds of accountability and transparency in local government planted for the future
Audio provides a 90-second preview of the recap.
According to an online acquaintance, the Italian word bidoncino means “small trash bin”, which seems fitting for these weekly updates.
Don’t have time for the scrumptious details? That’s okay—enjoy these soon-to-be composted toppings just barely visible from under the pizza-shaped lid:
1) Anoka Ballot Board Member Submits Complaint After Observing Ballots ILLEGALLY Tabulated Before Polls Closed in Anoka County August 9, 2022 Primary Election
2) New System Supreme Court Case Dismissed on Laches, without prejudice
3) Commissioners, Supervisors, and Auditors Miss Opportunities to Improve Process Prior to Nov 8, But Election Judges May Hand Count Anyway
4) Dakota County Collusion with 2 Dominion Voting System Reps to Conceal 2020 CVR Data
5) Campaign Finance Violations Committed by Crow Wing County Commissioner Candidate—Attention Brought to Broken Laws by Robin Sylvester Who Previously Led Effective Election Canvassing in Crow Wing
6) CVR Cover Up Continues, with Notable Exceptions both in Minnesota and South Dakota
Anoka Ballot Board Member Submits Complaint After Ballots ILLEGALLY Counted Early in Anoka County before August 9, Primary Election
Ballot Board worker observes law being broken as per Minnesota Statute 203B.121
Tabulating votes early also provides the Office of the Secretary of State with data about overall voting behavior and potentially individual voter choices
If you are a ballot board member observing this illegal activity in the week prior to Nov 8, consider filing a complaint and sending a copy to erikvanmechelen@protonmail.com
New System Supreme Court Case Dismissed on Laches, without prejudice
Dismissal without prejudice means case was not dropped on its merits
Petition service of MN Supreme Court Case A22-1081 mysteriously leads to Rosemount City Council member resignation
Service rules are unneeded friction in bringing election petitions to correct errors and omissions to public awareness
Computerized electronic voting systems were used on Aug 9, 2022 and will be used on Nov 8, 2022
What actually motivated the council member to resign? Was it because her actions brought more attention to the petition which the Star Trib article brushes over?
For details of MN Supreme Court Case A22-1081, read:
Order dated 22 08 09 - case dismissed on laches (the order makes clear that a dismissal based on laches is without prejudice)
Declaration of David Maeda, Direction Elections OSS
Secretary’s Response (MNSOS Steve Simon, submitted by Keith Ellison)
Commissioners, Supervisors, and Auditors Miss Opportunities to Improve Process Prior to Nov 8, But Election Judges May Hand Count Anyway
Wright County - During Aug 1 Logic & Accuracy test, Commissioner says writer should have brought electronic concerns during prior Election Performance discussions, a pattern of deflection similar to Crow Wing Commissioners’ attempts to end further election improvement discussions stimied by the people, Sherburne 1st Amendment issues, and more recently in Olmsted where residents brought new evidence this week; image below, see Wright County’s decision on CVRs
Hennepin County - No response after 7 days from Commissioners or Minneapolis City Council Members to Konnech letter requesting agenda item for County Commissioner Board Meeting to discuss Minneapolis’s recent contract extension with election company hosting American election data on Chinese servers; “No responsive data” reply given to data request for Rick Weible’s successful hacking into KnowInk epollbooks prior to declining the Hennepin County-suggested contract in 2016 (St. Bonifacius used paper pollbooks successfully)
Faribault County Auditor Darrin Esser says he fears for his job if taking courageous action like Tina Peters in Colorado (see Mesa County Report #3 made possible by Mesa Clerk’s forensic image of DVS server before and after Dominion “Trusted Build” which deleted logs and revealed database manipulation making election results unverifiable in 2020 general election and 2021 Grand Junction municipal election), showing misunderstanding of what Tina Peters did versus what is being asked of him (provide the CVRs); Mr. Esser read a proposed resolution which said machines would be removed IF any issues were ever found (at a minimum this writer suggests Faribault County machine count AND hand count on election night to verify tabulator accuracy)
After Stearns County Commissioner labels pseudo-patriots those asking reasonable questions, 3 residents made public comments and this writer responds (video); following week on 11 Oct, OSS sends David Maeda and Bill Ekblad to commissioner meeting reminiscent of Maeda’s deployment to Sherburne County after Sherburne cities and townships were alerted of new election software
Linwood Township in favor of county publishing CVR but chooses not to discuss hand count until joint powers agreement reviewed—the 2021 Anoka Joint Powers Agreement, in section 17, states “The County does not warrant that the Election Voting Equipment System will be error free”; in separate city in same county, one county employee claims falsely that hand counts are illegal
Why it’s important to vote in person (PDF)
Head election judge asks a few questions about the oath and end of night signature, a legal and lawful option for election judges throughout the state of Minnesota
Dakota County Collusion with 2 Dominion Representatives to Hide CVR Data for 2020 General Election
Email from decade-long Dakota Elections Manager Andy Lokken to Teresa Mitchell regarding a plan to make ballot images less accessible to public versus available alternatives
From:Mitchell, Teresa <Teresa.Mitchell@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>Sent on:Wednesday, December 16, 2020 6:43:38 PMTo:Lokken, Andy <Andy.Lokken@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>Subject:RE: CTCL grant and memory media
Another good discovery for grant investment. So the DP sentiment is that since we had ballot images at one time that we would have to produce those electronic images in the event of a court order prompted by a DP request, even though we had the paper? Perhaps a meeting would be good as I’d like to understand how strongly you and CAO support this recommendation. Thanks for the well described and supported explanation. My only technical question is on media retrieval from storage that is set for destruction. Who/how will those be able to be retrieved and wiped for reuse? We will want to describe to Tom before making the purchase. Can that be done this year yet? Teresa
From: Lokken, Andy <Andy.Lokken@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>
Sent: Wednesday, December 16, 2020 11:29 AM
To: Mitchell, Teresa <Teresa.Mitchell@CO.DAKOTA.MN.US>
Subject: CTCL grant and memory mediaPhillip Lundquist, Tom Donely, Jen Wolf, Phil Schmidt (Dominion), And Yvonne Cai (also Dominion) and I met a few minutes ago.
This meeting was about a recent data practices request for ballot images. As a group we agreed that ideally, we should seal the memory media containing the ballot images in with the ballots themselves. Capturing full ballot images in this voting system isn’t optional. But you don’t have to archive them in the server, you can keep them offline on the media. Since law hasn’t kept up with scanned ballot images- it only contemplates paper, we would be keeping the images on the memory cards safely with the paper. It takes a court order or other significant cause to open a sealed ballot transfer case before the retention period expires.
This plan would necessitate a significant purchase of memory cards. So naturally, I thought of the CTCL grant. Phil Schmidt told us that they have recently certified 16GB Compact Flash memory cards with their system. These are expensive, but available. Phillip and I will meet in the near future to come up with a recommendation.
They are $36.75 each, we’d need something like 2,200- $80,850.
The math is this:
We currently have 800-something memory cards.
A countywide election requires almost 800 memory cards. Phillip estimates 712, but we also need to account for cards that will be offsite, limited reburns, attrition, etc. A March Township Election is roughly 57 cards (remember, these are annual), a moderate SD election requires 80.
To manage a rolling 22 month cycle, Phillip and I estimate the county will need 3,000 memory cards. This would provide about 300 spares. We traditionally buy about 10% spares.
That’s why the 2,200 number.
I assume you’ll have some Qs. Should I set up a meeting?
Andy
Andy Lokken
Elections Director
Elections Department
P 651-438-4314
W www.dakotacounty.us
A 1590 Highway 55, Hastings MN 55033
F 651-438-4391
Notice Mr. Lokken’s admission that “capturing full ballot images in this voting system isn’t optional” (seeming to contradict the MNSOS here) but also that “law hasn’t kept up with scanned ballot images- it only contemplates paper, we would be keeping the images on the memory cards safely with the paper. It takes a court order or other significant cause to open a sealed ballot transfer case before the retention period expires.”
Then Mr. Lokken’s significant word choice in the next paragraph, “This plan…”
He then suggests using the CTCL grant (Zuckerbucks) to fund the plan.
Campaign Finance Violations Committed by Crow Wing County Commissioner Candidate—Attention Brought to Broken Laws by Robin Sylvester Who Previously Led Effective Election Canvassing in Crow Wing
A state college paid postage and possibly printed mailers
Senator Carrie Ruud endorsed the candidate in the Brainerd Dispatch
Robin Sylvester, also running for Crow Wing Commissioner, has filed a campaign finance complaint—readers are asked to consider Minnesota Statutes 211B.18, 211B.02 False Claim of Support, 211B.06 Campaign Material, and 211B.15 Contributions Provided
Cast Vote Record Cover Up Continues, With Exceptions
Apparent ally of Mr. Simon, Max Hailperin’s thoughts on the value of CVRs and reference to residents asking for them from counties as “mules”
Fillmore CVR Report Analysis (PDF) and Fillmore CVR Addendum (PDF) presented to Fillmore Auditor who provided parseable data to public even though vendor ES&S suggested way to provide unparseable data (Fillmore Sheriff and Attorney declined meeting)
Ramsey County CVR provided, details to come
South Dakota: Yes, CVRs exist!; Auditor in SD caught in lie; press conference on same; South Dakota Freedom Caucus demands transparency
Most Minnesota counties continue to withhold CVR data from 2020, 2022 primary, and plan not to disclose for the 2022 mid terms in clear violation of data governance laws for government data while also failing to cite a statute in keeping with Minnesota data governance laws
A reminder of data governance laws relating to public data:
Minnesota Statute 13.03, Subdiv 1. states:
Public data.
All government data collected, created, received, maintained or disseminated by a government entity shall be public unless classified by statute, or temporary classification pursuant to section 13.06, or federal law, as nonpublic or protected nonpublic, or with respect to data on individuals, as private or confidential.Minnesota Statute 13.03, Subdiv 3. states:
(f) If the responsible authority or designee determines that the requested data is classified so as to deny the requesting person access, the responsible authority or designee shall inform the requesting person of the determination either orally at the time of the request, or in writing as soon after that time as possible, and shall cite the specific statutory section, temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law on which the determination is based. Upon the request of any person denied access to data, the responsible authority or designee shall certify in writing that the request has been denied and cite the specific statutory section, temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law upon which the denial was based.
It is telling that in the dozens of CVR rejection emails and letters (from the Cast Vote Record Cover Up Series here) including from attorneys not a single one has cited “the specific statutory section, temporary classification, or specific provision of federal law on which the determination is based.”
If there was one, why wouldn’t it be included?
Thank you for your love and support (and an offer)
If you care about reforming elections in your county, there is something you can do every week. See upcoming events and learn more at Cause of America, Minnesota and become a leader in your county or join others already happily at work on meaningful, lasting change.
At least two county commissioners in Stearns and Anoka are now reading [S]elections in Minnesota including one who previously votes for DFL candidates, proving the interest in the integrity of elections is a unifying issue.
Get your copy of [S]elections in Minnesota (digital on Leanpub, choose your price) today anywhere books are sold (Amazon, B&N, Target, Bookshop, Thriftbooks, etc.) or by searching online with Google, DuckDuckCIAGo, or Presearch. It is recommended to study now to be up to speed on why the hand count alternative is officially being taken already in places like Tripp County, SD, Washington County, WI, and Nye County, Nevada, and why places like Otero County, New Mexico and Matanuska-Susitna Burough, Alaska have already banned voting machines for future elections.
If you prefer a signed copy, schedule an event with the author by emailing erikvanmechelen@protonmail.com with “Event” or “Book” in the subject line.
Progress is also being made on Midwest Seeds, about 18,000 words so far, which is a bit more of an experimental writing exercise telling stories about the people helping to change our system for the better who’ve succeeded in my view based on their willingness to go on a spiritual journey who I’ve met around Minnesota and the country in the 12 months.
Please know these written and occasional audio or video reports will always be free.
However, I do have an offer for you: Until the Nov 8 election, any $63.99 annual memberships or $300 (or set your own lower price) founding memberships will receive a complementary signed paperback copy of [S]elections in Minnesota as well as a complementary signed paperback version of Midwest Seeds, slated for publication in Spring of 2023 (but which can be previewed here) AND receive gratis copies of all future books I publish beyond [S]elections and Midwest Seeds. (Current annual members will be grandfathered and receive the same.)
If you don’t want to support this work, consider donating to the Roach family or “Be the change you seek” and buy the new Project Apario t-shirt instead from the Apario shop to support uncensored access to declassified government records and OSINT, research on which I’ll also be reporting through this newsletter.
We’ll be back next week with another recap of the Minnesota Bidoncino…
Regarding Wright County Assistant Clay Wilfahrt's comment, "CVRs may also fall under the same ballot provisions that require the ballots to be sealed for 22 months, unless there is a state ordered audit or recount."
This statement is a half-truth. Within the 22 month window, ballots are to be unsealed and inspected by the contestants in an election contest. Pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 209.06 which provides:
https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/209.06
Subdivision 1. Appointment of inspectors.
After a contest has been instituted, either party may have the ballots inspected before preparing for trial. The party requesting an inspection shall file with the district court where the contest is brought a verified petition, stating that the case cannot properly be prepared for trial without an inspection of the ballots and designating the precincts in which an inspection is desired. A judge of the court in which the contest is pending SHALL then appoint as many sets of three inspectors for a contest of any office or question as are needed to count and inspect the ballots expeditiously. One inspector must be selected by each of the parties to the contest and a third must be chosen by those two inspectors. If either party neglects or refuses to name an inspector, the judge shall appoint the inspector. The compensation of inspectors is the same as for referees, unless otherwise stipulated.
§ Subd. 2. Bond, taxing of costs.
The party applying for the inspection shall file with the court administrator of district court a bond in the sum of $250 if the contest is in a single county. In other cases the bond shall be in a sum set by the court with sureties approved by the court, and conditioned that the party seeking inspection will pay the administrative costs and expenses of the inspection if that party loses the contest. Subd. 3. Report of inspectors.
An inspection MUST be made in the office and in the presence of the legal custodian of the ballots. The inspectors shall recanvass the votes cast for the parties to the contest or the question in issue in accordance with the rules for counting ballots in the Minnesota Election Law. They SHALL make a written report of the inspection indicating the number of votes cast for each candidate or each side of the question in each precinct where the ballots were inspected and indicating any disputed ballots upon which the inspectors cannot agree.