Committee - Regular Meeting

Okay. All right, guys. Last committee. So I will call to order resident service, the resident services committee. It's Tuesday, August 25th. It is 434 p.m. Our first order of business is to approve the minutes from August 13th. If I can have a motion.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded. All those in favor, please say aye. Aye. Opposed? The motion carries. We have one addendum under new business today. If I could have a motion to put 2A before us. So moved. Second. It's been moved and seconded. Thank you. Item 2A is a resolution affirming Hennepin County's commitment to ensuring free and fair elections. Mr. Rogan, can you give us some background on this?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Commissioner, the resolution before you highlights the county's commitment to free and fair elections. And it has a kind of lengthy background with a lot of whereas clauses that provide background on the role of the county board, election officials, and the county canvassing board. As you know, we've had open forum three different times where we've had citizens come in, over 40 of them now, and ask to ensure that we have free and fair elections. Several of the whereas clauses highlight some of the efforts that Hennepin County and our partners have undertaken this year to preserve free and fair elections, including providing comments opposed to the U.S. Postal Service rule regarding delivery of absentee ballots, joining an amicus brief at the United States Supreme Court asking the court to uphold an injunction barring implementation of this rule, not approving access to polling places to U.S. Department of Justice representatives during the primary elections, and the Secretary of State's decision to not provide unredacted copies of Minnesota's complete voter registration list to the federal government. Other whereas clauses highlight that public confidence in elections really depends on the secure, accurate, and transparent administration of the election process, and that we have a long history here in Hennepin County of elections officials, city election officials, and thousands of election judges carrying out their duties in accordance with Minnesota law. Finally, several of the clauses highlight the limited role that county commissioners have in actually administering the process or certifying election results. Instead, that work is done by the Hennepin County Canvassing Board. And the Canvassing Board has five members, two of whom are appointed by the county board here. And this year, it is Commissioner Edelson and Lundy who are on that board. The resolution then ends with doing three separate things. First, it asks that you all reaffirm your oaths to support the U.S. Constitution and the Constitution of the state of Minnesota. It directs staff, including me, the county auditor, and the elections director, to take efforts to maintain free and fair elections in Hennepin County and to take actions to oppose any unlawful requests for election data or unlawful requests that could impact the election process. And finally, it directs me, I chair the county canvassing board, to ensure that all county canvassing board members take the required oath of office on November 9th when we're scheduled to meet to canvass the general election results. And with that, Madam Chair, I could take any questions.

Thank you. And with that, Chair Fernando, I'll be coming to you. But one of the things I want to thank all of the residents that came today. And I very much support this. One of the things I will say is never before have we faced the threats to our democracy and to our election process that we are facing now. When you think about in 2024, it says 40, I looked up the numbers, 47.3% of our ballots in Hennepin County were absentee ballots. Now, of course, that absentee was early voting then, and it's different now. So how many were actually mail-in votes, we'd have to distinguish between that. But with Trump's March 31 executive order, which directs the Postal Service to not transmit any mail-in or absentee ballots that are not on a list, I think residents are genuinely concerned. And I think that this resolution is incredibly important. WITH THIS, AS YOU WERE STATING, MR. ROGAN, ABOUT THE OATH OF OFFICE THAT YOU'LL TAKE WITH THE ELECTION, DO THE POSTAL WORKERS TAKE THAT SAME OATH OF OFFICE? IT IS A TYPE OF tampering with our elections that is shocking and something that I am glad that we are reaffirming, that we will be following state laws. And those have always historically been the laws that uphold our elections. I'm glad residents are paying attention. I'm glad that they understand just how much counties do to protect their elections. And I think people coming here is actually really supportive of the work that we will be doing. And so I was really happy to see. And I hope we will continue to see people coming here and making sure that we will be protecting their elections because we will. We really will. So Chair Fernando, you are up.

Yeah, thank you, Madam Chair. I, too, want to open with gratitude to the residents and the coalition members, both locally, across the state, and nationally, who are uplifting this for those who administer elections, which generally are counties. Second, I want to thank administration for putting this together. This contains a number of whereas clauses, which, colleagues, I think with the 2026 year we've had is important for us to codify into the record the experience from a governance perspective that we are having, that our residents are having. So I'm very, very happy to reaffirm my own oath and vote in favor of this. I want to make one typo note, the fourth to last whereas clause from the bottom, where it names the canvas being board members. There's one surname that has a typo. So I want to just correct that, and that's all. Thank you, Manager.

Thank you. And Commissioner Gattel. I won't be long, but I do want to say, too, I really appreciate the fact that we're going for a resolution. And when I talked to some of the folks in the group, I talked about how much bigger and more public this was, us doing a resolution and coming out to the residents in front of everybody on camera saying these kinds of things and just, you know, signing the pledge, which is a great pledge. That's fine. I mean, but I also, you know, We're getting people, the Secretary of State is speaking out about this. Keith Ellison is speaking out about this. And they have responsibilities to pieces of this as well as we do too. But I have heard comments and concerns at other town halls. one specifically recently with Congressman Ilhan Omar, and people all over, not just these coalition groups, but people all over, just general citizens, are really concerned about their ability to vote and not be intimidated. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Gattel. Commissioner Lundy.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I'm grateful for staff for this, because I met with the group that have come here, and I don't sign pledges. I've been burned too many times where the pledges end up in other people's hands. So this is, for me, a perfect vehicle to reaffirm what we want to do. And I think that highlighting... the changes that are just being made unilaterally and across the board when we are 50 states and we have different state laws that you can't just apply a uniform law without Congress passing it and the president signing it, which is not the case. So just that highlight. I also think that there's probably an opportunity. We talked when Jenny Helms was here about information. I think it would be useful because when I was meeting with the group, that has been presenting to us. There was also misinformation that they had. Like, they were asking us to put sheriff deputies at every polling location. I was like, nope, can't do that one. And also, they didn't understand that if a trespassing is given, actually it's local police that respond, not the sheriff. So I think there's some opportunity, I think, for even more so that people have expectations met when they see something that we have a process that's very defined that we follow. that that we do it and that process is important. We can't shortcut it. Like we can't let the president decide that he can just decide when and wherever he wants to do things. That's also the same process. So that we have to live up to our processes first and foremost, because once you break process, you know, I've given people grounds to say, wait a minute. And so I think that, and I think it's important. And I just want to say this guy said it with them. I think that the, All states should be counting their ballots like Minnesota or Florida do. The fact that California takes weeks to count does not give anybody confidence in anything because when you see that. I'm not sure about everybody else, but you're like, okay, how can Florida and Minnesota get it done first night? And other states can't. I think it's about willpower. And so I think that feeds into this narrative that people can point to and say, ah, see, it's this. And so I think we're doing the right thing with this resolution. I feel better supporting this as a board because it comes from us. And, you know, At the end of the day, we're going to do and follow what happens, and we're not going to do anything that we don't want to unless we're ordered to. I think that's the part. And then we'll have allies who are there. I just want everybody who can vote to be able to vote. It's very simple. If you're eligible to vote, 100%, you should be able to get that. I think that's always my goal, and I think that this helps us live up to that. So thank you.

Commissioner Green.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you to the team for bringing this forward. Really appreciate it. And I also want to add to the thanks that have been shared, thank you to the elections offices across the country and here in Hennepin County. I know I so appreciate the calm, the expertise, the the deep knowledge that that office has and carries forward when they're answering questions from members of the public. It's such a boost in confidence, both for me and residents. As has been outlined, this is a hugely important question. One of the questions that i suspect we've all received an email i certainly have is a little bit of like what what are you doing hennepin county what hennepin county what are you doing to make sure that these bad things don't happen and i appreciate all that we're doing and i think um there is some um some balance to be found that's talking about everything we're doing and also not fanning flames of concern. And I guess it's all, you know, it's, it's, it's everybody would probably plant their flag on that spectrum in a different place. I'd like to see us lean a little bit further into like, here's everything we're doing to just further that confidence and, I understand why we're not sort of going all the way with that. And so I myself am clearly representing some sort of poll in both directions. The last thing I wanted to say is that, well, I guess I think I'll just conclude it there. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Commissioner Green. Commissioner Anderson.

Thank you, Madam Chair. You know, I just want to say thank you for bringing this up, obviously. And I think most importantly, I want to express gratitude for the historical context of Hennepin County administering elections in such a way that people have confidence in our elections here. despite this administration's attempt to undermine the confidence in it. And as we've heard, there's a lot of people that are very nervous about that. But we have been doing our job for a very long time in making sure that our elections are free and fair and accurate and that more people are able to participate in our elections than the year before, right? We are always trying to find ways of expanding participation. And I am so thankful that we live in a county that is prioritizing participation and involvement in our election process. So I am like, Yes to all the things that have been said. I appreciate the public who has come and spoke to us about making sure that we are upholding an oath that I think everybody here and really across the state of Minnesota, I think we all take that oath really seriously. And I know that reaffirming that oath is important. you know like i think every time i'm taking a vote i am reaffirming my oath that i took when i was elected so um i think to commissioner green's point uh getting the word out of the things that we are doing to help calm people you know provide reassurances because we are doing a lot of really important good things the preparations that we were told about in the lead up to our primary elections is ongoing we are looking at further strengthening our systems through equipment purchases and I know that you know I have complete faith in our election teams in our process and I think our public should have absolute confidence in our ability to administer free and fair election again this year because we damn well better make sure that it happens and we will so thank you.

Thank you commissioner Anderson commissioner Conley.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Just really responsive to what we've been hearing for a while now from residents all over the county, constituents and folks outside of our district boundaries. I just want to also say that it is not lost on me that as we approach or as we are in the 250th year of this country, we are in a position where we are defending rights, basic rights, and reaffirming the oath that we took to the Constitution, which is the law of this land, which is the overarching laws by which we exist here in this country. The Constitution that, as Commissioner Anderson said, every time we are voting, we are reaffirming that oath. That is symbolic of the oath that we took to even hold these seats. We've taken those oaths multiple times, many of us. But it's still not lost on me that voting rights are completely under attack and have been. We are privileged to live in a state where we just over this primary, we broke the record for the number of people who voted. For the fact that in the state of Minnesota, in Hennepin County, we can vote freely, fairly. We have multiple different ways to vote, early voting, absentee voting. I am a traditional in-person voting day person. But I think about states in the South where they are systematically removing polling places from predominantly black communities to disenfranchise, to completely eliminate the opportunity for some communities to vote. That's astounding. Not surprising, but astounding to me, the lengths of which. the federal administration will go to remove the right to vote because voting is powerful. I don't need to tell people that. And when you remove that power from people, I'll even go further and say the way that we've seen redistricting happen in this country just within the past several months, how congressional districts have been redrawn to change or to tip the scales in the favor of a dominant demographic. it's mind boggling to me. And so I'm appreciative of the privilege of living in a state where I know that I'm, um, I've got, uh, access to voting that hasn't been in my time of being a voter, uh, hasn't been stripped away from me through really, uh, egregious, overtly racist ways. Um, and so, uh, while this is, um, protecting our vote and outlining ways in which we can be good stewards of the public vote and how we can just be good elected officials by remaining true to the oaths that we took to be elected officials. I just want to just reiterate that voting rights in this country are under attack and the Voting Rights Act really was an instrumental piece. It is an instrumental piece of what makes this a country in the first place. So 250 years later, here we are trying to defend that. And so those are my comments, but I'm certainly grateful that we have this board action as a tangible way to show our residents that we're not playing around.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Connolly. And then Commissioner Lum, do you have a follow-up?

Thank you, Madam Chair. I forgot to mention when I asked for – I think it would be really useful for the elections team to – actually put the diagram of when your vote comes in, when's it counted, absentee versus you put it in a machine because those things are – some are held and then they're put in a machine all at once. And then I think we need to be very specific how a ballot is handled because I think that's one of those ways. This is happening or, oh, the big dump of at the last minute and that's where they cheat and stuff. No, it just means people voted a certain way and here's how we count it. I think we need to tell people that. Also, I think we should use this. I think everybody who was here should be signing for election judge. I know we had a few. But one of the best ways to ensure election integrity is to be an election judge. And we don't suffer from too many election judges. So to me, I think that is an opportunity to really go out and publicize at every level. Like, hey, if you really care about this, we need you every two years. And here's the steps of what you have to do. Here's the training. Here's what you have to do. I think it would be helpful as well. And then, because by publicizing what we're supposed to be doing makes us live up to it. And I think about, we talked about it when I met with him, where we left the gate up on a vehicle that was carrying ballots, which is not our policy. And we owned it. The person, I think, is no longer working in that role. But all those things matter. Because it feeds into stuff. And so every time we fail on a policy, people use it as an aha versus we use that. So I do think all these things are good things. The more we tell people what we do. But I do think we should use this as election judge recruitment at every level that we can. So thank you.

Well, and with that, I was just going to say, too, some of the voters, or some of the voters, some of the residents that attended the meeting today were wanting to make sure we were partnering with cities. I think making more information around the election and how it works, I think people are very interested in it because of the threats to the election. you know, publicly how voting works, how counties get the votes, how we certify the election, how we work with cities. Also, you know, I know that during the primary, the attorney general's office, the county attorney's office, the Minnesota secretary of state, the county elections team was very much in close communication with all of them. I think people should just have a general idea that we are preparing for this. We do understand that There were some potential threats to the, well, at least some people that wanted to come within a period that they were not allowed within 100 feet of a polling place. So we do have a plan. And so I think making sure people understand that. And Mr. Rogan, do you have anything to say to all of that?

Just, Madam Chair, we will be doing more outreach. You know, we have planned some outreach events, and we, you know, based on this feedback, we'll look at some other ways to kind of highlight what you've talked about, about the process, how it works, and the steps that we've taken to ensure that we are going to have free and fair elections. And I'll just remind folks, I know that the folks from Open Forum aren't here anymore, but Mail voting starts on September 19th, and there is no prohibition right now for our mail balloting is going to happen the exact way that it happened for the primary. We are primed and ready to go. Those ballots will go out on September 19th, and I have every expectation that the Postal Service is going to follow that. There's obviously litigation that's happening, but right now I think one of the commenters said that the fact that you can't vote by mail is You know, that's not true. You can vote by mail right now, and certainly if you cannot, that will be an enormous deal. So you can vote by mail. And the other thing I'll say is that, you know, the early voting is new this year. Most cities have it at their city hall. And the city of Minneapolis, you can vote in northeast at the open voting center. And then they have one on the north side at the Urban League, one on the south side at the Bethel Lutheran Church. And then this year, they're going to have 12 pop-up events on particular days moving around the city that's all advertised on their website. So they're You know, I think people are really trying to make sure that we're working in ways to expand the franchise and try to make it so that we're meeting people where they're at and trying to meet that goal of trying to make sure that everybody who wants to vote has the ability to vote. And we have more opportunities to do that in different ways this year than we have in the past.

Yeah, that's great. Commissioner Lundy, you had another follow-up.

I do believe the county needs to take a look at the fact that not everyone gets the same treatment as Minneapolis because not everybody has Minneapolis money. So if you're in a small city, I don't mean to reach into District 7, but if you're in a small city, it's not your fault. That voter has the same rights as a voter who lives in Mill City in Minneapolis. I know that's not what you're saying, but when I hear about all these events, it's not the same and it's not a small city's fault for the fact that they cannot afford to do those things. They don't get money for that. And so I do think about the special elections where we were telling people out in Corcoran to come downtown to cast their vote because their city hall couldn't staff a thing. So I know that's not what you're saying, but it just reminds me that it is unequal on some of this stuff, and I realize why it is, but it shouldn't be. I just feel strongly that a voter... matter where they are in the county should have the same access so thank you thank you madam chair

OK, well, with that, I wanted to say just one more thing. No president, governor, county commissioner, for that matter, or political party should decide whose vote matters. Our job is to protect the rules, protect the process, and protect every eligible voter's right to participate in our democracy. And that's exactly what we have been doing and what we will continue to do. So with that, we will move to a vote. All those in favor of approving item 2A, please say aye.

Aye.

Opposed? The motion carries. That concludes resident services. Thank you. We are adjourned.

Thank you everybody.