League of Women Voters praises Blue Earth County post-election review; says machine and hand counts matched

Teresa Cavaney, representing the League of Women VotersNew Ulm chapter, told the Blue Earth County Board of Commissioners on Oct. 21 that volunteers who observed post-election reviews found the county election processes secure and well run.

"We were welcomed by mister Stahlberger and his staff. They conducted the post election review with a lot of professionalism, compassion, transparency. They were very competent, and I'm happy to report that the machine count and the hand count matched," Cavaney said.

Cavaney said the League, a nonpartisan nonprofit that conducts voter education and observation, participated in post-election reviews in multiple Minnesota counties this year and that Blue Earth County had two precincts randomly selected for review. She said League members received training and reviewed processes including the pre-election machine dry run and the post-election hand count comparisons.

The League noted that Minnesota law has required post-election reviews since 2006 and said volunteer observers worked with county elections staff during the reviews. Cavaney singled out county elections staff for praise and said the League expects the Mankato-area League of Women Voters to take a larger role interfacing with local elections going forward.

Board members responded with thanks; no formal action or vote was taken on the item, which was part of the meetingpublic-comment period.

Context: The League's remarks were delivered during the public comment portion of the Oct. 21 Blue Earth County Board meeting. County elections staff were identified in the remarks but did not make a separate presentation during this agenda item.