ST. PAUL, Minn. (GRAY) – Minnesota Republicans are expressing concerns about Minnesota election policies after a photo of a stray vehicle in Edina sparked controversy online.

The picture shows a vehicle with ballot papers in the open trunk, with no one inspecting it.

Both Hennepin County and the Secretary of State called the situation unacceptable.

An investigation was conducted, which found that no ballots were compromised. It was claimed that necessary steps were taken to prevent a similar situation from happening again.

On Thursday, Minnesota Republicans, including former Republican Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer, called on Secretary of State Steve Simon to enforce chain of custody laws for absentee voting.

State statute mandates absentee ballots on election day It will be carried by two people, one from each party.

According to Simon, this does not apply to transporting absentee ballots becauseTransporting absentee ballots is covered by a different law.

Kiffmeyer disagrees with Simon’s comment.

“This kind of chain of custody, party balance is the protection of the votes, the voters, those votes. “So if this had existed, this scenario would never have happened,” he said and continued: “Therefore, I call on the Minister of Foreign Affairs to immediately change his mind; “It’s common sense that this is not only a legally correct interpretation, but also obvious.”

Minister Simon issued a statement on Thursday assuring that the province is strict in complying with chain of custody laws. The statement explains that other security measures are also in place to ensure absentee voting is not compromised:

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office is a nonpartisan office committed to providing all Minnesotans with a free, fair, accurate and secure election. This office takes election security very seriously and is committed to following all election laws and training election officials on these laws.

State laws governing the return of absentee ballots require officials to mark and date each envelope, place them in lockboxes and ensure they are secure throughout the transfer process. Chain of custody documentation is always retained for ballots. All absentee ballots are tracked digitally throughout the entire process, from voter registration verification to tabulation.

The system’s resilience was demonstrated in last week’s incident in Hennepin County. While neglecting security was unacceptable, local election officials took the necessary precautions to ensure all votes were accounted for, no compromise was made, and this never happened again.

Our office supports local election officials year-round with comprehensive in-person and online training and technical assistance on all aspects of election administration.

With the election less than two weeks away, we want to remind every Minnesotan that local election officials are working tirelessly to ensure a free, fair, accurate and secure election.

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