“It’s been 13 days since the election, but the election work has not stopped.” said Secretary of State Steve Simon. He was in Anoka today for the county’s post-election review. “This process is really a post-election hand count audit, just to certify and make sure that the results that the machines said were the results were the true results,” said Simon. Six precincts in the county were drawn at random for the audit. Ballots were recounted by hand in these precincts, and if the totals were off by more than just a couple of votes a larger recount would be needed. The number of votes that could be off depend on the number of votes cast in the precinct. “If a precinct had less than 1,200 votes cast then the margin of error would be two,” said Anoka County Elections Manager Tom Hunt. “It could not be off by more than two votes.” “It hasn’t happened in modern Minnesota history,” said Simon. This election review would take the better part of the day, but for Secretary of State Simon, it’s an essential part of the process. “These are all public processes. During the election, after the polls close at 8:01 PM, anyone from the public can walk in and watch the machines run the final unofficial tally. They can watch absentee ballot boards and then after the process they can watch the county do the canvassing,” said Simon. “And last but not least, they can show up today in Anoka County and in every County of Minnesota at a process like this, and watch, and ask questions, and watch those designated to do the counting and the auditing. They can ask questions about the results. These are all public processes. There’s no curtain to be pulled. Everyone gets to be part of the process and have a front row seat to it.” Anoka County’s post-election review showed no machine errors. A few of the vote totals did change, but it was because the voter filled out their ballot incorrectly. Instead of filling in the circle next to the candidate, a few voters circled the name of the candidate or simply marked the circle with an x.
POST ELECTION REVIEW IN ANOKA COUNTY SHOWED NO MACHINE ERRORS
ANOKA – (Nov. 21, 2002) – City clerks, election staff, and election judges filled the atrium of the Anoka County Government Center on Monday.
