Reconciling election judges

The Minnesota Supreme Court may listen to arguments on Monday over a claim from Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Emmer that could throw out some ballots that were cast on Election Day.

In a filing on Wednesday, Emmer’s legal team cited 11 election judges who say they didn’t see reconciliation happen correctly in the precincts where they worked. Under “reconciliation,” officials count the number of signatures in the voter logs and compare it to the number of votes cast.

Who are these “election judges?” They’re people with some skin in the game, the Minnesota Independent is reporting today. It could not find links to the Republican Party or the tea party on only two of the 11 witnesses.

That doesn’t necessarily mean the claim is without merit. But David Schultz, a professor at Hamline University, says it suggests a shaky assertion. “From a legal point of view, it suggests the petition doesn’t have much merit,” he told MnIndy.

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