Minnesota Secretary Of State's Pollfinder Webpage Briefly Redirected Voters To Partisan Webpage, Lapse Of Judgement Blamed
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A website intended to help Minnesotans find the location of their local polling places was instead redirecting voters to the website of a partisan organization that has endorsed presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren.
The website of the office of the Minnesota Secretary of State sent visitors to BoldProgressives.org for a brief time Tuesday morning. BoldProgressives is a progressive PAC that asks for donations and collects voters information.
In a statement, Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said the redirect was the result of a "serious lapse of judgement" by a staff person.
"As many are now are aware, our online pollfinder was inaccessible for a period of time earlier today. We have now restored service to that tool. We have no evidence the Minnesota's voting systems were hacked or otherwise interfered with in any way. In an urgent attempt to restore service, a staff person diverged from our emergency plan and, in a serious lapse of judgement, linked to a partisan website that contained polling place information. The moment this error was discovered, we corrected the link. The link in question was active for approximately 17 minutes."
State Rep. Jim Nash (R-Waconia) has issued a statement regarding the situation as well:
"Redirecting Minnesota voters to a partisan organization that endorses candidates and collects voter information shows an astonishing lack of judgment by the Secretary of State's office. While I appreciate the preparations Secretary Simon has made to ensure voters can find their polling place in the event the state website is overloaded, this organization is an inappropriate source for our elections office to be utilizing."
