House Ethics Committee recommends no further action in District 54A election contest

The House Ethics Committee voted 4-0 to recommend that the Minnesota House take no further action on the election contest for House District 54A after hearing oral arguments and reviewing the district court record.

The committee’s discussion focused on 20 absentee ballots that county investigators say were discarded before they could be counted, questions about whether testimony from those voters can be relied on in an election contest, and whether the district court’s findings — including a manual recount and a two-day trial — were clearly erroneous. The petitioner argued the proper remedy is a new election; the respondent’s attorney said the trial record shows Representative Brad Tabke won and the contest should end.

Representative Harry Niska, the petitioner, told the committee that this is “purely about the House’s constitutional role to be the final judge of the returns and eligibility of its members” and urged caution about relying on voter testimony to decide elections…