Election judge pleads guilty to allowing unregistered voters to cast ballots

A head election judge in Badoura Township, Minn., has pleaded guilty to a felony charge after he accepted ballots from 11 unregistered voters in the 2024 election.

Timothy Michael Scouton was charged by the Hubbard County Attorney’s Office in November 2024 with one felony count of accepting the vote of an unregistered voter and one felony count of neglect of duty.

According to a plea deal he signed this month, Scouton pleaded guilty to the first charge in exchange for the second being dismissed.

The criminal complaint in the case states that Hubbard County Auditor Kay Rave told local authorities that 11 voters at Scouton’s polling place should have completed registration forms prior to voting, but no completed forms were returned to her after the election. Rave explained that the form is used to validate the identity of the individual casting a ballot.

Scouton told Rave that he and his colleagues could not find the registration forms to use, but when Rave located them, Scouton said they did not use them, the charges say.

Police confirmed that Scouton completed basic election judge training and head judge training in July 2024.

Other election judges told police that Scouton directed them not to use the voter registration application forms and instead had new voters sign “the back of the book,” the complaint says.

Scouton met with an investigator at the Hubbard County Sheriff’s Office but declined to provide a statement, according to the charges. He was then placed under arrest.

Scouton faxes a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison. His attorney plans to argue for a gross-misdemeanor level sentence, according to the plea agreement. His sentencing is scheduled for May 18.

Anthony Gockowski

Anthony Gockowski is Editor-in-Chief of Alpha News. He previously worked as an editor for The Minnesota Sun and Campus Reform, and wrote for the Daily Caller.