Hennepin County, Minnesota, has fired an election worker who left several boxes of mail-in ballots unattended after a local Republican group exposed the alleged negligence, according to a statement from county officials released Friday.

Minnesota Senate District 50 Republican — Republican Executive political unit Portions of Edina and Bloomington, Minnesota — snapped Photo outside Edina City Hall on Friday. showing The delivery vehicle’s “rear door was ajar, with a ballot transfer case inside.” A review of parking lot surveillance footage showed the ballots had not been tampered with, and a comparison of the votes with the statewide absentee voting registration system found a perfect match. (Related: Exclusive: RNC hires hundreds of thousands of volunteers and thousands of lawyers to ensure election integrity)

“Hennepin County acknowledges that this code violation occurred, should not have occurred, and is unacceptable,” the county’s statement said. statement Read. “Corrective action was taken by the county and its carrier to prevent a recurrence. The county confirmed that the driver was fired.”

Do you think these ballots are safe? Photo outside Edina City Hall. @MNSteveSimon @GOPMNCD3 @MNCD5GOP @gop @EdinaMN @EdinaPatch @edinacityman @EdinaPolice @EdinaMag @LizColin @AlphaNewsMN @sd46g @SD50DFL @BillGrahn pic.twitter.com/SF03NMdpXL

— SD50MNGOP (@SD50MNGOP) October 18, 2024

Mail-in voting began in early September, and more than 17 million Americans have already voted. I voted As of Monday. Critics of mail-in voting have expressed concerns about ballot delivery, with the National Association of State Election Officials and other officials writing: letter In September, it reported potential challenges to the U.S. Postal Service’s postmaster general, including processing delays, lost or delayed election mail, and insufficient training.

“Election security is of the utmost importance and leaving ballots unattended is never acceptable,” Hennepin County Auditor Daniel Logan said in a county statement about Friday’s incident. “Hennepin County has strengthened its transportation procedures with county staff and vendors. Incidents like this highlight the value of strong processing and storage processes to address risk and ensure integrity can be verified. .”

Hennepin County and Minnesota Senate District 50 Republicans did not respond to requests for comment.

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