Hennepin County says no evidence of tampering after vehicle full of ballots left unattended; courier fired
EDINA, Minn. — Hennepin County officials say there is no evidence of tampering after a photo was posted to social media showing an open, unattended vehicle full of ballots.
The photograph was taken outside Edina City Hall on Friday and shared by the Minnesota Senate District 50 GOP on X.
"Do these ballots look secure to you," the tweet said, garnering over 1,000 likes.
A spokesperson for Hennepin County said on Saturday that the county and courier have taken corrective actions to prevent a recurrence, and the driver has been terminated.
"Election security is of utmost importance, and leaving ballots unattended is simply unacceptable," Hennepin County Auditor Daniel Rogan said. "Hennepin County is reinforcing its transfer protocols with county staff and vendors. An incident like this underscores the value of strong chain-of-custody processes, so that risk can be addressed and integrity can be verified."
Hennepin County reports all expected ballots have been accounted for and found no evidence of tampering with sealed transfer cases. Individual ballots were also inspected and staff determined all were received in sealed condition. Both inspections are routine election integrity processes.
The vehicle contained ballots that were picked up from other cities before coming to Edina, according to the city.
Additionally, Edina released surveillance footage of the parking lot at the time, showing the ballots inside the vehicle were not tampered with.