House Ethics Committee votes to take no further action after hearing on lost ballots in HD 54A contest

The Minnesota House Ethics Committee voted to recommend that the House take no further action regarding the election returns for House District 54A after a hearing on a contested result involving about 20 absentee ballots that were discarded.

The committee first considered a motion to recommend the House reject the returns and declare a vacancy for District 54A; that motion failed on a 2-2 roll call. Later, a motion that the House take no further action passed 4-0.

The petitioner, Representative Harry Niska, told the committee that the matter is “purely about the House's constitutional role to be the final judge of the returns and eligibility of its members” and emphasized that “20, at least, voters in Shakopee were disenfranchised because, someone in the election process threw away their ballots.” Niska argued that those voters had been deprived of the opportunity to have their votes counted and said the proper remedy would be a new election.

David Zoll, attorney for Representative Brad Tabke, countered that Tabke won the election and that the district court’s findings and the manual recount support that result. “Brad Tabke is the duly elected representative for House District 54 A,” Zoll told the committee,…