Resident urges St. Francis to consider paper poll pads amid legal challenge over pull tabs

Derek Lyn, who identified himself as part of the Anoka County election integrity team, urged the St. Francis City Council to consider returning to paper poll pads and asked council members to review handouts he distributed about recent developments in pull-tab regulation.

Lyn told the council the Upper Midwest Law Center has filed suit against the state of Minnesota in a case representing the city of Oak Grove over pull-tab autonomy and said a county letter had warned that using paper poll pads could expose jurisdictions to felony liability. “If you look … the felony threat … it was not signed by anybody,” Lyn said, adding that the county election manager later said he sent the letter but “should have put my name on it.”

Lyn thanked the council for earlier passage of a post-election review and said that, aside from that review, returning to paper poll pads is one of two concrete steps cities can take to address election concerns. He declined to go through an eight-page packet during his remarks but encouraged council members to read the materials he provided and noted a documentary that includes his group’s work.

No action was taken at the meeting; Lyn’s comments were received as public input and staff did not propose a formal policy change during the session. The council did not vote on poll pads or elections policy at the June 15 meeting.