Minnesota election judge who allowed 11 unregistered people to vote pleads guilty

Kim Hyatt, The Minnesota Star Tribune on Mar 24, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — An election judge in northern Minnesota’s Hubbard County has pled guilty to a felony for allowing 11 unregistered people to vote in November 2024.

Timothy Scouton, 65, of Nevis, Minnesota, was charged with two counts: accepting ballots from the unregistered voters and neglect of duty in his posting at the Badoura Township precinct in Hubbard County.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s office said in a statement to the Minnesota Star Tribune that “Scouton made a decision to disregard state law,” but said his actions were caught immediately. Officials in the office said they are unaware of any other instance of an election judge knowingly allowing people to vote without registering.

“Election crimes are extremely rare. Election-related crimes by election workers are nearly unprecedented,” the office said.

Scouton fought back tears in the virtual court hearing Monday, his voice cracking as he admitted that “I allowed people to vote without proper registration.” When the judge asked him why that’s a crime, Scouton said it’s because “I was head election judge.”

He is prohibited by the county from serving in that role again.

Scouton had been a trained election judge in the conservative-leaning Hubbard County for nearly a decade. But he claimed that he couldn’t find the registration forms for new voters on Nov. 5, 2024.

Attorney Anthony Bussa argued that Scouton still took steps to log the new voters, saying all 11 people signed a log by listing their address and date of birth. He said Scouton instructed election judges, including his son, to verify their identity and address with driver licenses.

In exchange for pleading guilty to the count of allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots, the neglect-of-duty charge will be dismissed.

The felony offenses are punishable by up to five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. At sentencing May 18, Bussa will argue for departure from state sentencing guidelines and ask for a gross misdemeanor-level sentence.

Hubbard County Attorney John Olson said he would argue against the departure at sentencing, but he didn’t object to the plea petition dropping one of the charges.

Bussa said in a motion to dismiss the charges, which Judge Kathryn Lorsbach denied, that “Mr. Scouton truly tried to comply with all duties as the head election judge to assure that the election was fair, impartial, and legal under the confines of Minnesota law.”

“There is no evidence whatsoever that Mr. Scouton engaged in any intentional, affirmative conduct to circumvent, or to infect, the sanctity of this election,” Bussa said.

According to data from the Minnesota Judicial Branch, there have been 83 election-related criminal cases since 2020, such as ineligible or unlawful voting. Almost all charges are against voters, not election judges.

“The overwhelming majority of election workers serve with the highest level of integrity,” the Secretary of State’s office said, adding that 30,000 Minnesotans step up and serve as election judges in every statewide election and undergo training.

The 11 votes in Badoura Township wouldn’t have swayed the outcome. A majority of the township, population 150, voted for Donald Trump in the presidential election. Nearly 65% of voters in Hubbard County backed Trump.

Scouton’s son Andrew Scouton “would have been responsible for registration applications since he was sitting where persons entering would speak with him first,” according to charges against his father.

Other election judges told police that Timothy Scouton looked high and low for the registration forms, and when he couldn’t find them, he instructed the judges to log the name, address and dates of birth of new voters. Scouton also advised the other judges to verify that each person resided in Badoura Township.

“Each and every new voter was properly vetted, verified, and registered consistent with the spirit, and the purpose, of the statutory prescription,” Bussa argued in his motion to dismiss.

Timothy Scouton certified election results, turned in all of Badoura Township’s election materials, and provided the form with the new voter registrant information and attestations to the Hubbard County Auditor.

The charges say that on Nov. 7, the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office received a copy of an email sent from former County Auditor Kay Rave to the late County Attorney Jonathan Frieden.

In the email, Rave stated that she learned 11 people had registered to vote in Badoura Township. Scouton had returned the ballots and other supplies, but Rave could not find any completed voter-registration forms. When asked, Scouton told Rave that they could not find the registration forms to use. After Rave located the incomplete forms, Scouton told Rave they did not use them.

But Bussa said that Scouton showed “proactive conduct ... to best register the new voters ... in the absence of the Minnesota New Voter Registration Application forms—not intentional criminal conduct..."

Bussa and Scouton did not respond to requests for comment.