St. Cloud Sun

Earlier this month, a video surfaced which appeared to show a campaign worker engaging in ballot harvesting and preying on elderly voters to gain an advantage in the upcoming election. 

This video pushes election security and possible voter fraud to the forefront of an election that is already fraught with tension and full of potential scandal. In the video, the worker claims that elderly voters are persuaded to sign over their ballots to campaign workers before actually filling them out. 

Sen. Mary Kiffmeyer (R-Big Lake) has issued a statement in response to the video:

“This video gives proof that ballot harvesting is happening. It’s so very sad that seniors are being threatened and terrorized to give over their ballots. Voting in person at a polling place or official office is the best protection from this abuse. No-excuse absentee voting seems to be an opening for this abuse of the system and changes are needed to protect people and our elections from manipulation."

In addition, she and her colleagues are asking the state Attorney General's Office to look into the issue and come up with a plan to protect affected voters.